April 3, 2019 Auroras
Chippewa National Forest
I drove up to Pughole Lake and walked out onto the lake to get north of the yard lights that illuminate the lake's surface. There was a minor substorm while I walked north, and I stopped periodically to take pictures of it. Once I got to the island on the north side of the lake, STEVE (strong thermal emissions velocity enhancement), an aurora-related phenomenon (although not directly caused by precipitating electrons as traditional auroras are), appeared. STEVE typically presents itself as a purple-grey, narrow ribbon stretched across the sky. This time, it was closer to the northern horizon than it had appeared in the past, so I only saw a subtle hue as I was looking perpendicularly through it, rather than right up through its vertical axis. Accompanying STEVE was the picket fence aurora, which must be a very closely related phenomenon because the two often appear together.
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A small substorm occurs as I walk north. A yard light is illuminating the lake surface ahead. |
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There as also a hint of Zodiacal light in the western sky, which occurs in the spring right after sunset. This wide angle shot is an attempt to capture both the Zodiacal light and the auroras, although the former is very dim. |
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Regular auroras (along the horizon), "picket fence" auroras (above the horizon), and STEVE (just above/to the left of the picket fence auroras). |
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