Eat More Venison

I was running on fumes. 

Tuesday, Following an evening interrupted by three checks of the Northern Lights (or absence thereof), there followed multiple errands and a routine visit to DC Medical Center.   By 3PM I was starving.

Inasmuch as you are what you eat there was this. 

 
From 12 o’clock:  loaded baked tater, backyard venison, sautéed shrooms and one broccoli floret.  Pretty good chow in a hurry.

I’m gonna allow myself one glass of Merlot in front of the TV before I fall asleep.

Fingers-crossed for the possibility of more overnight dancing lights action. 

And don’t forget to wear your foil hat when chasing the elusive Aurora Borealis.

All those agitated electrons and excited photons are electromagnetic radiation you know……

Aurora Watching

A little more than 24 hours ago our sun unleashed a powerful X-Class solar flare along with a fast Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME).  It arrived overnight and, expecting it, I snapped some average photos* of the arrival of the northern lights.

The first couple of photos were snapped before bedtime at 10.06 PM the evening of January 19, 2026.  They were OK - yet not what I expected.

For any of the following photos click on the image for a closer look. 

 

Twice more I arose to check on the progress of the lights (thank you bladder) and peering from the bathroom window to the north only once did my naked eye perceive any action.  With wind chills -20F I wasn't inclined to take an actual photo sampling.  

Finally I arose before 6 AM (permanently) and took a peek outdoors.

Yowza!  The aurora borealis had gathered in strength with the night and as darkness began to wane was dancing in the pre-dawn skies. Here is a sampling of the shots I took; January 20, 2027 at 5:58 AM.

 

And, in-case you needed a guide to decipher the lights, here you go... 

*iPhone 14 Pro

I use a Snapseed App to manipulate the aperture and ISO. My device uses a stabilizer setting for extended exposures.

 

 

Aurora Alert

09.14.25 View North

The sun woke-up on the flare side of the bed overnight, unleashing a powerful X-class solar flare along with a fast Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), which is currently forecast to hit our home planet within the next 24 hours.

If the CME arrives as expected and has the correct magnetic orientation to be "geoeffective," we could witness strong (G3) or even severe (G4) geomagnetic storm conditions tonight, according to the U.K. Met Office. If these conditions are reached, the northern lights might be visible as far south as Northern California and Alabama

Space weather forecasters are busy analyzing data and running models to narrow down the CME's arrival window.

Fingers-crossed for clear night skies..... 

Last Hurrah

Last evening was a busy one for the night skies.  Following a mass coronal ejection the previous day the heavens were awash in charged particles leading to a spectacular display of the aurora borealis; or northern lights.

Wednesday I had to rise early, drive to the Naked City, conduct a guided hike at the Forest Exploration Center, run an errand or two and drive home.  That's roughly 6 hours on the road with an early start and I was running on fumes. 

The light show was actually an on-again, off-again affair and inconsistent in duration.  Consequently, went outdoors at periodic intervals, let my eyes adjust to dark and if the display appeared robust, take some photos. 

Finally, I had to go to bed.  I was pooped.  At 11:46 PM I captured some more decent photos.  

In the last photo in the tree line (center) is a red navigation beacon on a cellular tower located atop distant Brussels Hill.  A reasonably tall hill with a tall tower.  The photo provides a good illustration of the scale of the display above the horizon.  

It was spectacular.

Fingers-crossed for more of the same tonight....

 

Light Show

On 11 November 2025, an intense solar flare was observed, with a peak around 10:04 UTC. This was followed less than an hour later with the observation of a coronal mass ejection (CME), with an initial speed estimated to be around 1500 km/s and arriving at Earth on 12 November in the late evening or on 13 November in the early morning, although these estimates include some uncertainty. 

- European Space Agency 

Last night we scored a handful of decent photos around 8:30 PM - view to the north east horizon.  Activity seems to have petered-out by bedtime.

Seven hours on the road yesterday.  I was pooped.

You snooze you lose...

November Night Lights

Took doggo out last night for one more potty call before bedtime and we were greeted by the aurora borealis - the northern lights.

Side benefit of living near the 45th parallel. 

 

You snooze you lose.... 

 

 

Northern Lights

In spite of all it's shortcomings one of the redeeming virtues of Facebook is its Groups.  Whether it is smoked meats, brick oven cooking, hunting and fishing, history, sports or your high school class the Groups deliver good stuff regularly.  Last evening a couple of alerts crossed the screen of my hand-held device and outdoors I went.  It was a good time to look north to the Big Dipper.  

 

Northern Lights, people.

 

Got myself outside for a dose of the Aurora Borealis.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's corona.

As a consequence of a strong geomagnetic storm that occurred over the weekend last evening was a terrific opportunity to view the aurora borealis - the northern lights - in Canada and northern United States.

We might get some more tonight.

Meanwhile, I suggest you do two things.  If you have a Facebook account or access to the interweb join some northern lights groups and sign-up for alerts for your geolocation.  Secondly, use your device.  While the northern lights may be visible to the naked eye your device will bring them to life.  The extended exposure and built-in filters will bring to life wavelengths not visible to the naked eye.  Same for the use of a photo-editing tool which will allow you to manipulate aperture, exposure and other elements after the fact.

Fingers-crossed for clear skies. 

October Night Skies

 Sometimes I Cannot help myself.....

Aurora Alert

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's corona.

As a consequence of a strong geomagnetic storm that occurred on Tuesday, this evening is a terrific opportunity to view the aurora borealis - the northern lights - in Canada and northern United States.

Especially north of the green line on the map.  Heck you might even see this in Alabama!

Fingers-crossed for clear skies.

October Night Skies

The aurora borealis, AKA the northern lights are caused by solar activity that triggers magnetic storms.

Solar flares from activity on the surface of the sun and coronal mass ejections release electrically charged particles into space.

The solar wind carries these charged particles from the sun.

And when the particles are captured by the earth's magnetic field they collide with our atmosphere, heating-up the atoms and molecules which release energy in the form of photons, or light particles resulting in the aurora borealis.

And this happens.  

From last evening...

click on images to enlarge

Two For The Price Of One

Last evening I went out around 10 PM or thereabouts to check on the Perseid meteor shower.  I scored about a half-dozen shooters when I was paying attention. Most of the time I was fiddling with the app filters on my iPhone in an attempt to deal with the clutter of light pollution low on the north-northeast horizon.  I swear, Sturgeon Bay must've had every last damn light turned-on.  Such is tourist season.  Sigh.

If you look at this photo locate Cassiopeia in the lower right corner.  Move left and down a bit and that would be the radiant from which the Perseids originate.   Too be fair, at their height they can materialize just about anywhere.  Fingers-crossed for dark skies this evening if you want to have a go at it.

click on image for a closer look

At 12:30 AM I figured I'd take one last gander at the Perseids before hitting the sack.  I was met with this.  A spectacular display of the northern lights.  Yowza!

 

 

All I gotta say is that this was a pretty good evening for looking at the night skies.  Two for the price of one!

The Perseids will be hanging-around tonight.  Maybe the Aurora Borealis will be back too.

Dark skies!

What Was Seen In The May Night Sky

Friday evening the rains put the kibosh on all of us peninsula dwellers attempt to see the northern lights.  Saturday evening I fell asleep with the dog trying to stay up for the show.

I awoke at 1 AM Sunday morning; and stepping outside was greeted by this.  

A very different borealis display than previous ones I've witnessed.  No flickering flames; a rather diffuse colorful glowing sky instead.  Stars and constellations visible.  Pleasing but uninspired. 

A buddy from Algoma shared that thee was a short-lived (less than ten minutes) burst of activity at 11:30 PM on Saturday.  There are gone.  Photo credit: Kevin Naze.

December Night Sky

Ducked out the north side of the screen porch a couple of times last evening to look for northern lights action.

 

Nada.

 

Nevertheless, nothing is lost on stargazing….