Nov. 24, 2001 Aurora Gallery
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Summary: Two fast-moving coronal mass ejections (CMEs) struck Earth's magnetic field around 0530 UT on Nov. 24th. The impacts spawned Northern Lights seen as far south as Arkansas and Texas in the United States. Sky watchers in New Zealand and Australia also saw Southern Lights!

Both CMEs left the Sun on Nov. 22nd following explosions near sunspots 9698 and 9704. It's likely that one of the expanding clouds overtook the other en route to Earth, forming a "cannibal coronal mass ejection." Such CMEs carry complex magnetic fields that trigger powerful geomagnetic storms.

Unless otherwise stated, all images are copyrighted by the photographers.
Submit your pictures of the Nov. 24th auroral storm.

  Photographer, Location Images Comments

Darren Osborne, Canberra, Australia
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 D. Osborne: "My wife and I were driving home at 11.30 pm when she noticed something unusual from the passenger seat. We pulled off to the side of the road and there was the most amazing sight -- auroras over Australia." Photo Details: Minolta SLR, Kodak 400 ASA film, exposure time 20-30 seconds.

Ian Cooper, Glen Oroua, Manawatu,
New Zealand

Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 I. Cooper: "Recent heavy rain had created a shallow temporary lake seen in some of these pictures of Southern Lights." Photo details: Lenses: 50mm @ f/1.4, and 28mm @ f/2.5; Films: Fuji NHG II 800, Fuji Extra 400, and Kodak Ektapress 1600. Exposures between 12 and 60 seconds.

Paul Moss, above Titahi Bay, Wellington, New Zealand
Nov. 25
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, more Photo Details: Fuji 200ASA 'Superior' daylight print film; 50mm f1.8 lens; 30 to 120 second exposures.

Larry Turner, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3 L. Turner: "I was watching Spaceweather.com and ran outside after the initial shock wave hit. The sky lit up brighter than the streetlights with a fast moving band of white and purple. I stayed out from 9:30pm to 5:30am local time. The last picture I took was of the Aurora above the city shrouded in fog at 5:00am. It was worth every minute of it!"

Jeff Perry, Willow, Alaska, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3, #4 Photo Details: Olympus E10 iso160, 15 to 30 seconds @ f2.0 and 35 mm

Suzanne Ruby, Elk, Washington, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3, #4, more S. Ruby: "On a dark dirt road facing a cloud bank I shot picture after picture. It was a subtle night -- mostly greens and yellows. Red snuck in for ten or twenty minutes [joining the other colors in their competion with the clouds]. The clouds eventually became the victor!" Photo details: Pentex 1000, f-2.8, ASA 400 12-25 seconds.

Dominic Cantin, near Quebec City, Canada
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3, #4, more Photo Detail : 28 mm @ f 2.8, 25 seconds, Fuji superia 800 X-TRA.

Calvin W. Hall, near Palmer, Alaska, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 Some of the swirling structures in these auroras are truly spectacular. And they were bright enough to illuminate snowy mountain peaks like a full Moon.

John S. Sandy, Deer Park, Washington, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Canon EOS Rebel 2000, 20 mm f 3.5, Kodak Royal Gold 400, exposed for about 40 seconds

Daryl Pederson, Girdwood, Alaska, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2 Red and green Northern Lights illuminate this snowy mountain peak near Girdwood, Alaska.

Alex Ivie, Berryville, Arkansas, USA
Nov. 24
#1 A. Ivie: "I was driving to work this morning when I thought I saw some city lights that I don't normally see. They grew brighter and I could tell they were auroras. They were so spectacular that I called my parents and woke them up at 5:30 a.m. so they could go out and see them!" Photo details: Nikon CoolPix 950, 8 second exposure, F2.6. "No tripod, sitting on the top of my car!"

Paul Wicklund, Spokane, Washington, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, more P. Wicklund: "The sky glowed green from 10:30 pm until dawn with bursts of color mixed in." Photo details: Fuji X-tra 800 speed film 12 to 15 second exposures, Minolta X 700 camera, 28 mm lens at f/2.8

Robert Siciliano, near downtown Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3, #4 Photo details: Canon EOS3, 17-35 f2.8, and Kodak 100VS film.

Jim Brownfield, Huntsburg, Ohio, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3 J. Brownfield: "I was fortunate again to be able to enjoy fantastic auroras in Ohio." Photo details: 50mm lens set from f/1.4 to f/2.8, 15 to 30 sec. exposures on Kodak Supra 400 film.

Andre Clay, North Pole, Alaska, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, movie Photo Details: Sony DSC-S70, ISO 100, 8 second exposures. Be sure to view the gif animation!

Elizabeth & Jerry Warner, near Westcliffe, Colorado, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2 E. Warner: "I had never seen auroras before, so after we saw your alerts, we set the alarm and checked the sky during the night. Midnight, 2am, 4 am went by with no aurora. About 5am my husband rolled over in bed and looked out the window that faces north: There was a huge red glow! We hollered for everyone to get up and grabbed cameras. I ran out barefoot onto our back deck, which I had luckily swept clean of snow the evening before." Photo details: Canon EOS D30, 28mm lens, 15 sec. exposure.

Larry Spencer, Bellingham, Washington, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3 L. Spencer: "I used Fuji Superia 400 film with my trusty Pentax K1000 body, f/2.8, 15 second exposures. Had I been more awake, I would have driven out to the country." Even so, the auroras were visible despite Larry's neighborhood lights.

Mark A. Koopsen, near Hamilton, Washington, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3 Photo Details: 50mm 1.8 lens, 40sec exp, 200asa Kodak print film.

Chuck Johnson, near Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
Nov. 24
#1, #2, #3 C. Johnson: "I took these from our place on top of Cleary Summit 20 miles NE of Fairbanks, Alaska. The camera is an Olympus Digital C3040. I used an equivalent of 400 ISO, 16 seconds, with a F1.8 lens at equivalent 35mm. "

William Biscorner, Michigan, USA
Nov. 24
#1 Photo Details: Pentax K-1000 camera, 24mm-f/2.8 Phoenix lens, Fuji 400 film, 30 sec. exposure.

K. Pascual, Silverbow, Montana, USA
Nov. 24
#1 Photo Details: Kodak Max400 film, Yashica 35mm camera with a 28mm lens. 20 second exposure.

Joseph Slagle, Flat Top mountain, near Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Nov. 24
#1 none

More images (click on the name of the photographer to view the image):
David Champer (Gallipolis, Ohio, USA); Kevin Forster (Knik, Alaska, USA); Marc Constantino (Anchorage, Alaska, USA); Doug Cannon (Eagle Mountain, Utah, USA); Pete Wynne (Boulder, Colorado)

See also our Nov. 5th and 6th, 2001, aurora gallery!

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