Paul Sundberg Photography

Friday nights Space Weather forecast was for very active aurora. A friend texted to let me know that the aurora was out. I headed up to Caribou Lake in the Superior National Forest. The public landing faces north so it offers a nice place to photograph the night sky. When I got there a green arc was over the lake. Only one other couple was at the landing. We commented to each other on what a beautiful night it was. Along with the aurora, billions of stars were reflected in the perfectly calm water.  Views like this really make you appreciate dark skies. One group looked like they had a campfire across the lake. We could hear other groups excitedly talking from their docks enjoying the night. 

After an hour of just the arc the other couple decided to leave.  I encouraged them to stay as I have experienced the aurora arc explode and fill the sky with rays of color within minutes. It was 9:30 and they had miles to travel so they decided to call it a night. Minutes after they left the colors started to get brighter. At 10:00 a bank of narrow, parallel rays started moving across the sky from west to east. 

The colorful rays got brighter and brighter. Within minutes it was absolutely breathtaking. Like a translucent curtain of colors covering the Heavens. They were so bright that their reflections in the water was just as bright as the colors above. 

Paul Sundberg