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  1. 2015
  2. January

2015-01-07

One of the most incredible aurora displays I've seen yet. Fairbanks, Alaska
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  • Diffuse Aurora Filling the Sky

    Diffuse Aurora Filling the Sky

    When I walked out my door a diffuse aurora filled the entire sky. Multiple bands were starting to condense and brighten. It was an incredible sight - even the stars were getting drowned out. There's the Pleiades cluster over the 3rd tree from the left.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • End of the Road

    End of the Road

    I quickly found myself running to get to the trails making it only to the end of the street when the aurora really started taking off.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • The sky is incredible

    The sky is incredible

    I turned around - looking back toward my house. The western sky was completely lit up.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Structure

    Structure

    I turned back around - the blob was brightening to the northeast and a bright band just south of it was developing really cool structure.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Structure dwindles

    Structure dwindles

    Literally 5 seconds after the previous photo was taken.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • The northern sky

    The northern sky

    I really should have been shooting at about 1/60 of a second here - all the structure and brilliant pinks in these bands have been washed out by the super fast motion at a 10/25 sec. It was kind of the theme of the night, always getting caught off-gaurd.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • A bright aurora

    A bright aurora

    I had to underexpose a bit to avoid totally blowing out and oversaturating the aurora. This was probably the brightest band I have ever seen.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • It broke up quickly

    It broke up quickly

    That amazing band disintegrated as quickly as it appeared. Giving me time to run to another location and get to look in another direction.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Aurora band reforming

    Aurora band reforming

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • The aurora creeps up

    The aurora creeps up

    It didn't stay broken up for long and started to brighten on the horizon.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Magical Forest

    Magical Forest

    The aurora borealis dances over a boreal forest in Fairbanks, Alaska.
    Blog: http://lwpetersen.com/photo-blog/week-northern-lights-wouldnt-quit/

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Magical Forest - Black and White

    Magical Forest - Black and White

    Incredible northern lights display over a snow-clad forest in Fairbanks, Alaska.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Taking control of the sky

    Taking control of the sky

    Cranking my neck up at the eastern sky

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Untitled photo

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lightssprucetrees

  • Untitled photo

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnorthern lights

  • Turn to the west

    Turn to the west

    I had my eyes trained on the eastern sky for a while. Then I turned around to this sight.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Fast Lights

    Fast Lights

    Shimmering rays overhead

    alaskaaurora borealisfairbanksnight skynorthern lightsraystree

  • Explosions in the sky

    Explosions in the sky

    Stunning aurora display over Fairbanks, Alaska.

    alaskaaurora borealisblack and whitebwnight skynorthern lights

  • The Western Sky Erupts

    The Western Sky Erupts

    There's just no end to this show!

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Green

    Green

    This was one band that just exploded over my head. I could see two more doing the same thing to the north and the southern sky was just diffuse green.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Aurora Storm

    Aurora Storm

    An awesome and strengthening aurora band slowly drifts south as it condenses and intensifies.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Condensing

    Condensing

    The bright auroral band (in the photo above) condensed and brightened. I had to lower the exposure again to keep from overexposing the aurora. The pinks still got washed out a bit.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Bands moving south

    Bands moving south

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Spreading out

    Spreading out

    The bands overhead started to diffuse out quite a bit. There were still strong bands on the northern horizon.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • The moon and the aurora

    The moon and the aurora

    Th moon and the aurora

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Pulsating

    Pulsating

    Between 2:30 and 3:00 am there was a drifting, pulsating aurora overhead. It was fairly diffuse, nowhere near as bright as earlier, but it was really cool to watch as it filled the sky with the bright moon.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Coming Back

    Coming Back

    Some bands started to re-form again. Still fairly diffuse.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Calling it a night

    Calling it a night

    I'm done.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestfairbanksnight skynorthern lights

  • Aurora Spiral

    Aurora Spiral

    The aurora came out again Wednesday evening, but it was nothing like the display the night and morning before. There was this cool spiral in the sky that seemed pretty stable - it didn't change much over 5 minutes. Blogpost: http://lwpetersen.com/photo-blog/week-northern-lights-wouldnt-quit/

    aurora borealisnorthern lightsfairbanksalaskanight skytreesboreal forest

  • Untitled photo

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestnight skynorthern lightswinter

  • Untitled photo

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestnight skynorthern lightswinter

  • Untitled photo

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestnight skynorthern lightswinter

  • The spiral returns

    The spiral returns

    About 10 minutes after the spiral dissipated, it came back in almost exactly the same location. This time it didn't hang around for long.

    alaskaaurora borealisboreal forestnight skynorthern lightswinter

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