These drop-down menus link to the top auroras of each year. For 2012 through 2018, click on the year to see a calendar linking to all events for that year.
September 3, 2022 Auroras
Grand Rapids and Cohasset
Bz was south (-4 to -7 nT) for a couple hours before sunset, so I went out to photograph. As is fairly typical, Bz shot north right at sunset, so I knew the display would be fading when it got dark enough to see the northern lights. When I arrived, there was a nice display fairly high in the sky. It was about 30-35 degrees above the horizon before it quickly disappeared. We waited for the sky to darken a bit more to reveal anything closer to the horizon, but there wasn't much, and the moon was out.
Bz again dropped south for a little bit, but the auroras didn't rapidly return, so we went home. About a half hour after that, they appeared again, and people were sharing photos on social media. Instead of heading out again, I decided to set up a camera on my rooftop and sleep. Bz was fluctuating, the moon had set, and the humidity was low enough that I could see the Milky Way pretty clearly from my house in town. The auroras were there when I started the camera, they brightened a little bit, then faded, then brightened again around 4:00 AM. I took a time lapse (see the bottom of this page).
Auroras were visible as soon as the sky became dark enough.
There's also a brightening along the horizon.
This is about as thick as they got.
My last shot (at 16mm) before they disappeared entirely.
