Sept. 29 - Oct. 3, 2001 Aurora Gallery
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Summary: A four-day spate of geomagnetic storms spawned some of the most beautiful Northern Lights of the young aurora season. The action began on Sept. 29th and 30th when a pair of coronal mass ejections buffeted Earth's magnetosphere. Then, on October 1st, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth turned south -- a condition that energizes geomagnetic storms. Widespread Northern Lights continued until Oct. 3rd.

Unless otherwise stated, all images are copyrighted by the photographers.

  Photographer, Location Images Comments

Phil Hoffman,
Schwatka Lake, Whitehorse, Yukon
Oct. 3
#1, #2, #3, #4 P. Hoffman: "The best display of the season so far. Brilliant aurora in bright moonlight, clear sky and calm winds." Photo details : Provia 400F, 24mm lens, 8 sec@f/2 and 20mm lens, 15 sec @f/2.8.

Yuichi Takasaka,
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Oct. 3
#1, #2, #3, #4 Y. Takasaka: "The moon was nearly full and very bright." Photo details: Pentax KX, SMC 20mm/f2.8 Lens, and Fuji RMS at 400. Exposure: f2.8 and 20 to 40 seconds.

Suzanne Ruby, 30 miles north of Spokane, WA, USA
Oct. 3
#1, #2, #3, #4 Photo details: The camera was a Pentex 1000, using Fuji 400 ASA film and a 28 mm lens. 10 to 20 second exposures

Duane Clausen, Menominee, MI, USA
Oct. 2
#1, #2, #3, more D. Clausen: "This was my first attempt at shooting auroras under full moonlight. They were were not very strong this morning. That, coupled with slight overexposure, left me with these somewhat washed out but tranquil images." Photo details: 35mm 1.8 @ 10 seconds. Fuji 800 speed film.

Tom Eklund, Valkeakoski, Finland
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, more T. Eklund: "This was the best display of autumn [so far], there was lots of movement, discrete features and many colors." Photo details: 28mm f/2.0, exp. 15 sec. Kodak Elitechrome 100 pushed 2 f/stops.

Mark Simpson, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, more M. Simpson: "These auroras were the brightest I'd seen for a while. Despite strong moonlight I shot 3 rolls of film." Photo details: Pentax LX SLR Camera. Film: Fuji Pro NHGII ASA 800, Kodak Royal ASA 1000. 28mm lens, f2.8 + 1stop push processed.

Juha P. Kinnunen, Jyväskylä, Finland
Sep. 30
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5 J. Kinnunen: "At my location, the aurora became visible at 1900 UT, and an hour later things began to happen, both in the eastern and western skies. A nice corona complemented the show. Around local midnight clouds and fog began to roll in." Photo details: Nikkor 14mm/f2.8 and 28mm/f1.4, and Fuji Provia 400F.

Phil Hoffman,
Schwatka Lake, Whitehorse, Yukon
Sep. 30
#1, #2 Photo details: Olympus 3040 digital camera

John Russell, Nome, Alaska
Sep. 30 - Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, more J. Russell: "A nice show not the least bit hampered by the full moon." Photo details: Kodak Portra 800, Nikkor 35mm @f2, 13 and 15 seconds.

Mark L Koopsen,
Hamilton, Washington, USA
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3 M. Koopsen: "We had a great show from about 0600 UT until the fog engulfed us at 0745 UT, 10-01-01." Photo details: Fuji 200asa color print film, f-2.8 28mm at 35sec. exp.

Yuichi Takasaka,
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Pentax KX, SMC 20mm/f2.8 Lens, and Fuji Provia400F. Exposure: 20 to 40 seconds.

Sherry Buttnor,
Victoria, BC, Canada
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5 Photo details: Nikon FE 35mm camera, 50mm lens at f/2.8. Exposures were all around 8 seconds.

Paul Wicklund,
Mead, Washington, USA
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4 P. Wicklund: "These photos were taken on Oct 1st, a little after 2 am local time from just north of Spokane WA. It was a very nice show in spite of the nearly full Moon. The sky glowed most of the night but this 1/2 hour burst overpowered the moonlight." Photo details: a 28 mm lens, Fuji 800 film, 15 to 20 sec exp.

Dominic Cantin,
Québec City, Canada
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, more D. Cantin: "It was an incredible show!" Photo details: Kodak supra 800 , 28 mm @ f 2.8, 25 sec. exposures.

Philippe Moussette,
near Québec City, Canada
Oct. 1
#1, #2, more Photo details: Coolpix 995 didgital camera.

Peter von Bagh,
50 km east of Helsinki, Finland
Sep. 30 - Oct. 1
#1, #2 P. von Bagh: "On Friday, I read on your web site that there had been a coronal mass ejection that could cause auroras between Sunday and Monday . So, last night I went out at half-past eleven and there they were! A nice aurora with green and red which could be seen despite the full Moon."

Samuel Nyman,
Turku, Finland
Sep. 29
#1, #2, #3, #4 S. Nyman: "I was outdoors one hour before midnight 30 Sept. when I suddenly spotted constantly changing green auroras. I drove away from the city lights and took these four photos." Photo details: OM-40 35mm camera, 50mm lens at f/2.8. 10 to 20 sec. exp. Agfa color print film, ASA 400.

See also our Sept. 26, 2001, aurora gallery!

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