October 8, 2024 Auroras

Lake Winnie

Bz was quite a bit south, and that was bringing auroras higher in the sky than last night. I had a good time shooting at Lake Winnie last evening, so I decided to go out there again. I did not have calm waters last night, but the wind was coming more from the southwest (blowing offshore from the southwestern landing), so maybe I'd have calm waters this time.

That turned out not to be the case. There was enough of a breeze generating waves elsewhere on the lake that I had wavy conditions at the boat landing. Oh, well. The auroras were pretty high in the sky, anyway, which would make it difficult to get reflections in the water. When I arrived at the landing, I took some shots to the northwest and to the northeast to review the extent of the glow in the northern sky. It was spreading over much of the northern half of the sky and occasionally coming overhead. I pointed the camera southeast to get a shot of the Milky Way, and the glow filled part of that picture, too.

The view in the northwestern sky when I arrived.

The view to the northeast when I arrived.

Looking southwest at the Milky Way and auroral glow spilling into the southern sky.

I thought I may have seen some of the "dunes" aurora, and the auroral arc curved nicely down and into the east-northeastern horizon, so I decided to point that way to set up a timelapse. I started the timelapse at 8:55 PM, and the substorm started at 9:16 PM. Over the following 37 minutes, I shot in all direction as bright auroras spread over the entire visible sky that I could see. It was a spectacular sight! I was shooting at ISO 2500, f2.8, 3.2 seconds for most of this.

The first substorm of the night gets started.

Bright auroras expand over the entire north sky.

Auroras fill the sky.

A little bit of a corona.

The wind direction was changing and bringing waves directly toward me. I decided, therefore, to try shooting from the opposite side of the lake, where I hoped the wind would be blowing more offshore. Additionally, people were getting word about the show and were starting to show up at the landing to have a look. These less-experienced folks tend to drive up to the landing and leave their pickup headlights on. I was friendly with the first group and gave them pointers about shooting with their phones, but then another pickup came in and had their headlights pointed right out at the lake (the auroras were bright enough to see with headlights on). This time, I had had enough. I had already taken my second camera and tripod back to the car, so I grabbed the first camera, still on the tripod, and walked back to the car. I don't think I bothered taking it off the tripod. I just hopped in the car and left. I drove out of the boat landing, back to Highway 2, and stopped at the Big Fish Supper Club for a few pictures.

Auroras at the Big Fish restaurant.

From the Big Fish, I drove back east through Bena, then north on Winnie Dam Road. A couple miles up Winnie Dam Road, I saw what appeared to be an ATV pulling over into the ditch and turning off its lights. As I got closer, I could see that it was actually a car, and then I saw a freshly hit deer in the middle of the road in front of me. I backed up to where the car was pulled over to ask if they were okay. "What up, bro?" he asked.

I said, "Just wanted to check to see if things are okay. Do you need any help?"

"Dude, we're good! My friend's dad is coming to pick us up."

I could tell by the way they responded that they didn't really want me getting involved (were they hiding something?), so I said good luck and continued on my way. I had to pick which landing I would shoot at-- any landing I could find on the east side of the lake. There was a road leading northwest to High Banks resort, and I had the choice of a couple boat landings in that area. One, at the very end of the road, was pretty remote and faced more north. Since the auroras were getting overhead, I thought the north view might not be the best. I decided on the Birches boat landing, which was quite a bit closer and faced more west-northwest. If the auroras retreated northward, I'd still have a view of part of the northern sky, but Bz was still in the negative teens, so the auroras could maybe get a little farther south.

The auroral arc from the east side of Winnie.

After shooting for about a half hour, I realized I couldn't remember returning my camera backpack to the car before I left. I walked over to my car to check if the backpack was inside, but it wasn't. I looked around the outside of the car, and it wasn't there, either. I would have to go back to the opposite shore (about 30 minutes drive) and see if my backpack was still there or else buy a new backpack and whatever else was inside it. With all the people showing up, I was afraid it would no longer be where I left it. I shot the timelapse for a few minutes longer, procrastinating my decision a bit. I did not want to go back because it would add at least an hour to my night, and I really needed to go home and get some sleep.

Oh, well. I'll go.

I left and took the same route back to the southwest side of the lake. I drove as fast as I could on gravel road leading back to Winnie Dam Road. I turned right on Winnie Dam Road. When I came upon the deer collision site, the deer was still lying exactly where it had been earlier, but the car was gone. I continued and could see that the auroral arc was brightening a bit and becoming a bit narrower overhead. I needed to document this. I stopped at the first reasonable forest clearing I could find, snapped two pictures, and then stopped again at a clearing with a good view over a bog to the east.

Looking east on Winnie Dam Road.

From there, I drove as fast as reasonably possible to the southwest boat landing. When I arrived, everyone had left, and the landing was empty, so I drove right up to the boat ramp. My backpack was at the side of the ramp, exactly where I had left it. I immediately took my camera and tripod out of the car and got set up because the auroras were intensifying quickly to my east. Once I was set up, I got the backpack back in the car. I then watched as the auroras, once again, spread over the entire sky. This time, I shot at ISO 1600, f2.8, and exposure time of 2.5 seconds. These auroras were bright.

The second big substorm started as soon as I got back to the boat landing.

Once again, auroras fill the sky.

Looking up at the corona.

When the peak light of this second substorm was past, I loaded my gear back in the car and started for home. I kept an eye out for any clearings to see what views there might be and to see what else the auroras had for viewing on my way back. I stopped at one clearing where bright colors appeared, and I snapped a few pictures, including one where a car went by, illuminating the foreground. At a second stop, I shot some fog rising from the Mississippi River, illuminated by the auroras.

Looking west-northwest on Highway 2.

A passing car illuminates the foreground.

Auroras illuminate fog rising from the .

Back at home.

Plot of solar wind conditions.

A shot with my other camera during the first substorm. ISO 1600, f2.8, 6 seconds.

A shot from my other camera during the first substorm. ISO 1600, f2.8, 4 seconds.

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