 It's
rare for such an exceptional display of northern lights to come so
early in the evening. While some diffuse glows and otherwise
uninspiring action developed right at sunset, things didn't really get
going until 6:42pm. It went from dull to spectacular over just about a
minute.
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 This
photo was taken three minutes after the first. The rays had brightened
and moved higher overhead. These photos accurately represent what was
seen in the sky. No excessively long exposure times were used to
create an overly bright looking display. It was bright enough by
itself.
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 The
tops of the rays continued to expand until they reached the zenith,
directly overhead. It was the making of the next photo, one of
my favorites. It should be noted that, yes, the reds were as
visible to the camera as they were to my eye. It was one of few
occasions where this has been true for me.
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 This
is the type of photo that makes you put a lot of faith in the ability
of your tripod to hold on to your camera. This photo is looking
straight
up in the sky. The tops of the rays came to a center point
forming a jaw dropping display known as a corona. This is rare this
far south.
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 Here
is another shot of the corona. It's something everyone should
get to see at least once. It's unfortunate few people will, since it
takes a lot of luck. There are so many factors working against
seeing something like this is hard to believe anybody ever does.
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 Sadly
after about 15 minutes of sheer solar shock and awe, the spectacle
overhead began to fade to a deep red and wither away. The night
wasn't over, but the part you'd tell your grandchildren about ends
here. A show like this only happens 4-8 times per solar cycle,
which is 11 years long.
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 While
the action overhead had faded, action lower in the sky was picking
up. This deeply colored set of rays formed in the east and hung
around for quite a while. At this point, I was getting rather
exhausted from frantic photo snapping, and I desperately needed a
bathroom break, so I took a short rest.
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 When
I returned, there still was no corona, and the action in the east had
shifted more to the west. The strongest of the action
never was anywhere near the northern sky. I've noticed this in
other strong outbursts as well. These pink rays with a green
backdrop were seen facing due west.
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 Some
time passed, and I'm beginning to wonder how much longer
my batteries are going to last. Things seemed to be winding down
now. The reds had faded, and this curtain of purple and
green was all that was left. This level of activity used to excite
me, now, I think it's rather boring.
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 This
is the last interesting photo I took. The time was 7:32pm.
Plenty of rays and splashes of color remained. It wasn't a very long
show, but still, I felt rather drained at this point. I've spent a
long time hoping to see a show like this, and seeing it was a bit more
excitement than I could handle.
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It
was without question the most spectacular display of northern lights
I've ever seen, and I've seen them more times than I can keep track
of. This was the brightest, most colorful, intense show that one
could ever hope for. As great as it was, a true aurora
enthusiast such as myself couldn't help but wish for some of the other
features that I've witness with smaller, weaker displays, such as easily
visible movement and wave-like pulsations. There was one thing
about this display it hated, and that was the way it raised the bar so
high that getting a shocking display again will be hard.
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