Tuesday, June 23, 2015

A Different Kind of Light Show: Day 208


The data from last night's auroral activity are huge. The planetary K-index, or Kp scale, represents the magnitude of a geomagnetic storm, like the Richter scale for earthquakes or the Fujita scale for tornadoes. If I were to tell you a magnitude 9 earthquake had just struck the Aleutian Islands (which it hasn't), your reaction would be "damn, that's a big earthquake". Well, the Kp scale of geomagnetic activity ranges from 0-9, 9 being the most active. Last night the Kp index topped out at an 8. Damn, that's a big aurora. People were reporting lights all across the northern portion of the US, with displays reaching as far south as the Moab Desert in Utah. I had hoped last night would be my chance for St. Paul auroras, but a forecast for rain sent me to bed. I was, however, awoken by a sudden 3am thunder storm that lit up the skies above St. Paul anyway. Lightning, the next best natural phenomenon after aurora.

Canon EOS 60D, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, ISO-100 f/4 @ 10 sec - through a dirty window.

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