Sept. 30-Oct. 9, 2002
Aurora Gallery
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Summary: On Sept. 30th a solar wind shock wave--a coronal mass ejection (CME) hurled into space by an explosion near sunspot 134--swept past Earth and triggered a moderate geomagnetic storm. No one knew it at the time, but that was just the beginning of nine days of geomagnetic activity. Solar wind gusts from coronal holes and a series of CMEs kept the storm going fitfully until Oct. 9th. Sky watchers spotted auroras, off and on, as far south as Arizona in the United States.

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

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  Photographer, Location Images Comments

Paul Anderson, Ulverstone Park, Tasmania, Australia
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, more P. Anderson: "It was amazing. There were beams of light going right up to the zenith; some were a really cool green colour. There were also these pulses going through it, four per second."Photo details: Canon AE1 28mm lens at f/2.8 exposure time was 20 seconds on Konica 400 film.

Duane Clausen, Menominee, Michigan, USA
Oct. 2
#1, #2, #3, #4, more D. Clausen: "After waiting through several hours of mediocre activity, I was rewarded with these photos just before sunrise on the morning of 10/02. The fog adds to the eerie but beautiful scene; you can see twilight creeping into the horizon."

Bob Colwell, Somersworth, New Hampshire, USA
Oct. 2
#1 Photo details: Nikon N80 camera with Kodak Max 400 film, 28mm lens, 30 second exposure

Darrell Ruby, near Elk, Washington, USA
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, more D. Ruby: "For months now I have been following my wife Suzanne (her work is pictured below) from location to location trying to capture the auroras. This night finally produced some results. At times I didn't know whether to just stand there and watch or take pictures. It's new every time I view it."

Suzanne Ruby, near Elk, Washington, USA
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, more S. Ruby: "One long cloud sliced the Aurora up in pieces. It could have come from a contrail. But it stayed visible for two hours changing the looks of the aurora all though the night. It was a wonder to see. I asked my husband (Darrell) to stand very still in this one."

Robert Smith, Near Stoneville, North Carolina, USA
Oct. 2
#1, #2, #3, more It's not every day you see auroras in North Carolina, but Robert Smith did on Oct. 2nd. Photo Details: Fujicolor 200 and Kodak Gold 800 film.

Stephane Levesque, Luceville, Quebec, Canada
Oct. 2
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: 28mm, 800 asa at 15 seconde

Joachim Persson, north of Stockholm, Sweden
Oct. 1
#1 J. Persson: "[These were] strong mostly green aurora that could be seen quite well, despite some heavy light pollution. The pictures where taken with a Canon S40, 10-15 sec exposure. f2.8 and sensitivity set to 200ASA."

Lance Taylor, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Oct. 2
#1, #2, #3, #4 L. Taylor: "This display was so huge and bright that I was shooting on ISO 100 within the city near downtown. ...best display I've seen in my lifetime from these parts!" The strange-looking building in many of these pictures is the Odyssium (formerly Edmonton Space & Sciences Centre)

Warren Justice, Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, Canada
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 W. Justice: "This was one of the better displays that I have seen in this area. My son Jairus and I were very fortunate to witness it!" Photo #7 includes the International Space Station. Photo details: 28mm f1.9 @ 12-15sec. on Fuji Superia 800 x-tra

Mark Simpson, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Oct. 1
#1, #2, #3, #4, more Photo details: Sony Dsc-F707 Digital Camera. f2.0. Exposure: 30 seconds

Sandra Barnett, Sublimity, Oregon, USA
Oct. 2
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: 400 speed color print film, 50 mm lens, 2.8 f-stop, 30-60 sec exposures

David Johnston, Duvall, Washington, USA
Oct. 2
#1, more Photo Details: Nikon D1x, 30-sec, f2.8, 800 ISO (26mm) and dark frame subtracted

Mats Mattsson, an island south of Stockholm, Sweden
Oct. 1
#1, more Photo details: Film Fuji Provia 400F, Lens Minolta MD 20 mm @2.8, Exposure time 20 sec

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