Alaska Range March 19/20th, 2021

(Might not be crisp to be viewed on a ‘phone’…Best enjoyed on a laptop or desktop with a good monitor!)

Hope this note finds all of you doing well & being with family & friends again…or at least soon!

It’s been a busy few days & nights!

After a several-year, extended solar minimum without any significant auroral activity, conditions came together recently for a wonderful night of shadow & light.

This collection begins at the edge of Alaska’s Spring twilight silhouetting the three great peaks of the central Alaska Range.

The aurora continued through moonset (2nd from last pic) on the middle peak of Mount Hunter, with Mt. Foraker (left) & Denali (right), lasting beyond that until dawn…about 9-10 hours.

The “biggest” little bump is 20,320 foot Denali…all dwarfed by the grand aurora dancing 60-100 miles above us…some of the display higher than that.

Though this overall auroral event was by no means “massive” on the scale of geomagnetic storms, it did not disappoint at all.

The multitude of variables that coalesced in our sun-earth interaction allowed for some quite rare ultraviolet emissions at times.

Throughout the night graceful formations swirled & danced below the stars with occasional pastels taking over for brief moments.

Since our sun is finally about to move into the next solar cycle (#25), this very well may be just a taste of solar maximum in the years ahead.

There is absolutely no way of knowing what’s coming though…you just have to get outside, lose some sleep & be there when/if they appear!

It was definitely a treat for the eyes!  Enjoy!