October 18, 2015 Aurora
Grand Rapids to Effie
Well, it was a lot of driving for a so-so event, but it's always fun to watch the auroras, regardless of the intensity. Bz had been south to around -5 nT much of the afternoon, and when it reached -5 nT again in the evening, I decided to head out. I looked out from my driveway as I often do to see what I can see from home. A narrow band of clouds had taken aim right at Grand Rapids (even though there were no clouds in the forecast), so it looked like I would have to drive.
I started to head north and found a new spot where I had not shot before. There was a canoe landing at Day Lake in central Itasca County. I stopped to shoot a few stills there, and I could see that I had cleared the band of clouds that was over Grand Rapids, but there was another band precisely located to cover the auroral oval.
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| A glow on the northern horizon, mostly covered by a band of clouds as viewed from Day Lake. |
Those were mid-level clouds, so it would be a bit of a drive to get north of that band, which really did not appear to be moving. I continued to drive north to Effie then decided to head east to Deer Lake. Bz had continued to be southward, so I was hoping for a nice oval, and my more northern location would allow me to be in a position where it would be higher in the sky.
Wrong. For one, a band of clouds still covered the auroras from my location. How funny! I see seemed to be finding the only clouds around and managing to have them in front of the auroras. Secondly, the auroras had dimmed and receded northward. I got out and shot at the boat landing, and the lake was nice and calm, reflecting the stars beautifully, but the boat landing was in a somewhat crowded environment. There were campers in the lot adjacent to the landing, and there were a few other residences nearby. I tried to be as quiet as possible, but it was a very still night, so I knew the campers could hear me. I was not getting much for a show, so I decided to leave. Bz was also trending northward.
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| A glow on the northern horizon, mostly covered by a band of clouds as viewed from Day Lake. |
Having had a long week at work, my nine hours of sleep the previous night did not help me. I got really sleepy on the road, and even though my new car has an auto-steer function, it does not work well enough for me to sleep (plus, it's illegal, anyway, to not have your hands on the wheel when driving)! I reached the Laurentian Divide and pulled over at the rest stop there to take a nap. After about 10 minutes, I was awake again, so I continued south. I just had come out of the Chippewa National Forest when I looked over my shoulder and saw that the auroral oval had come back south and brightened. I turned around and drove the half mile back to Pughole Lake.
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| Pughole Lake. The color temperature on this picture is 5200 K, which renders things a bit more on the red side of the spectrum. |
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| The same scene with a color temperature set to 4000 K. |