Mother Nature Puts on a Show for Earth Day

Apr 22, 2017 @ 08:48

 

Mother Nature put on a show last night to usher in Earth Day. Throughout the day, there were advisories that the KP 5 watch has been posted for evening as a result of a glancing blow from the April 18th CME.

 

At 11 last night, there was a very faint green glow over the Mine Hill – not enough to photograph. However, a friend called me at 1:30 a.m. and said the Northern Lights were beautiful. Out I went to my favourite spot, Watson’s. From there I could see the lights dancing above the Mine Hill, but also over Wawa. Setting up the camera took a bit of time, I’m just a little bit out of practice, with this being the first good showing of the year.

 

Balancing length of exposure and aperture; I settled on one that showed the best colour and spread of the green curtains of light. The curtains of light spread from the east to the west. It was quite the show.

 

 

When the show began to fade, it seemed like a good idea to try William Teddy Park. Even less light pollution there, which could translate into being able to see the fainter trails of the northern lights. As I drove out, the curtains of light turned into spikes, and the excitement built. By the time I got parked, camera positioned – those spikes were gone. A few more shots were taken of the remaining lights, and then I thought… well, you are in a convertible, ‘How about a heated seat lookout on the lights with an extra large sunroof?’ Down came the top, up went the heat, back went the reclining seat! Listening to the best Canada has to offer in Juno winners with the ‘Oh, What a feeling’ cd; I watched the best light show that Canada has – the Northern Lights. What a show!