April 2011
 

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  Summary: April 2011 began with a surprising display of auroras, prompted by an unexpected by geoeffective solar wind stream. See also March 2011.  
 
  Photographer, Location Images Comments


Brian Larmay,
Pembine Wisconsin
Apr. 2, 2011
#1, more

It has been a very long time since the aurora has come down to my latitude. Finally the dry spell is over! Although dim, the lights had shown up rather well on the dslr. Substorming began shortly before 20:00 CST and lasted for about 15 mins Photo info: Canon 40D Modified Exposure: 30 secs ISO 1600 Lens: Zenitar 16mm

[movie!]
Jeff Koch,
Paynesville, MI
Apr. 2, 2011
#1, #2, #3, #4

Not very bright, but the first ones we've seen in a long time! We're glad they're back! Canon 30D 1600 ISO 30 sec 2230 EST. Auto Image in Photoshop to bring out the color.

Steve Milner,
30 km north of Ft St John, British Columbia, Canada.
Apr. 2, 2011
#1, #2

This is a first for me after 7 years of photographing northern lights,these were taken just after midnight April 2nd/11 ,I was checking out the Spaceweather site and saw the the index was at 9 so I went outside and this band was stretching across the entire sky in the opposite direction that I usually see the auroras ,the band appeared to be whitest to the naked eye so after my first shot well I was amazed ,could I have set something different with the camera ,,so I took a few more photos and yep they were red,,,,taken at were we live with a Nikon D7000,2000 ISO,F3.5,with a 20 second exposure,,,I can't wait for the next show ...


Zoltan Kenwell,
North of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Apr. 2, 2011
#1, #2, #3, #4, more

April 2nd had a very subdued but bright display. There were no real defined bands in the auroras just a smooth green and purple waves. I was able to shoot till 6:00am! The sky eventually became too bright and the auroras faded into the blueness of the pre-sunrise light. Just before it got too bright to see the auroras, the sky went crazy. The auroras began to pulse in very fast waves. If you can imagine the sound pressure buffeting through a rolled down wind of a car on the highway. That’s what the randomness and speed of the aurora looked like. A perfect way to end and all-nighter of capturing the beautiful aurora! Canon 5D mark II and the EF 24mm f1.4 and the EF15mm Fisheye. ISO 1250, 3-30 seconds


Rodirgo Roesch,
Denmark, WI
Apr. 2, 2011
#1, #2

Auroras showed up for about 10 min. Green columns of light appeared and moved from one area to the other. I was lucky because was exactly during the Neville Public Museum Astronomical society Messier marathon. Canon Xsi, 17-40mm L series lens. 30s F4 ISO 400.


Warren Gammel,
Henderson Road, Fairbanks, Alaska
Apr. 1, 2011
#1, #2, #3, #4

The lights came out really early tonight and I caught the tail end of the show at 11 p.m. I wished I would have headed out a little earlier at 10 or 10:30. After that, I took a nap in the truck and woke up to green clouds. Photos taken using Canon 7D with Tokina 11-16mm lens and Canon T1i with Peleng 8mm fisheye.


Sergio Batista,
Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Canada
Apr. 1, 2011
#1, #2

After another night of photography with Greg, Todd and James we were surprised by these gorgeous colors floating above the Town of Indian Head, Saskatchewan. Pictures taken with Sony A55V and 550, ISO 1600 with exposures between 20 to 30 seconds.

Wayne Barsky,
About 15 miles north of Coldfoot, Alaska, on the middle fork of the Koyokuk River.
Apr. 2, 2011
#1

Nikon D7000, ISO 800, Tokina 11-16, F. 2.8, 25 seconds This was a non-stop show from midnight until the sky started to brighten around 4:30 am. It was a moonless and bitterly cold night (-23 Fahrenheit). The deep violet and purple tones in the photo were not visible to the eye, and this photo was chosen because of those unusual colors. The photo was adjusted only by bringing up the shadows a little -- that's it. While waiting for my in-camera noise reduction process to complete, I was watching what I thought was a satellite making a transit from east to west across the sky when it suddenly flared far more brightly than any other star in sky, then dimmed, and ultimately disappeared. I assume I was lucky enough to see the Space Plane (but not lucky enough to get it on camera).

more images: from Jon Sigurdsson of Þingeyri, northwest of Iceland; from Brandon Lovett of Fairbanks, Alaska; from Kasper Solberg of Faroe Islands (Between Denmark and Iceland); from Neva Andersen north of St. Cloud, Minnesota;