Night 2: 12 March 2002
This was our first night out at Chena Hot Springs Resort. Aurorae are a
major (but by no means the only) attraction to Chena Hot Springs. In
recognition of this, the resort provides an "aurorium", a heated, dark
viewing room with large north-facing windows to make viewing more
comfortable. This seemed most popular with the Japanese visitors,
but the only way to really appreciate the aurora, and capture it on
film, was to stand around outside and wait for the right moments.
Early on, we knew we were in for a good show when the "quiet arc" spread
right across the northern half of the sky, running all the way from the
eastern to the western horizon. The glow of the lights and steam from the
outdoor rock pool didn't help however.
Then something extraordinary happened. Almost like a waterfall descending
from above, this incredibly vivid curtain spread itself across the sky
and appeared to "dance" before our very eyes. It only lasted a couple of
minutes, but went through the most exhilarating displayes of rays, arcs,
and comb-like bands. Some of my photographs of this feature came out
saturated, that's how bright it was. Only a couple of days earlier,
we had been watching a video at the UAF Museum taken with a special
high-sensitivity camera showing just this effect, and I had been trying
to explain to the group that in my memory, aurorae just didn't move that
fast. Boy, was I wrong!
Looking almost straight up, the aurora seemed to swirl into one large knot,
centered on the Big Dipper (an appropriate emblem for the state of Alaska).
After things had calmed down a bit, I decided it was time to get a bit
"creative". A good foreground can make any aurora shot more dramatic, but
as we had (deliberately) come to Alaska near the time of New Moon, there
was little ambient illumination of the surrounding landscape. So I used
my torch (flashlight to the rest of you) to "paint" the snow and trees.
Not quite as good as a moonlit scene, but good enough. The aurorium is
the wooden building shown below.
On to Night 3...
Last modified 15 May 2002 by Stuart Ryder
Then something extraordinary happened. Almost like a waterfall descending
from above, this incredibly vivid curtain spread itself across the sky
and appeared to "dance" before our very eyes. It only lasted a couple of
minutes, but went through the most exhilarating displayes of rays, arcs,
and comb-like bands. Some of my photographs of this feature came out
saturated, that's how bright it was. Only a couple of days earlier,
we had been watching a video at the UAF Museum taken with a special
high-sensitivity camera showing just this effect, and I had been trying
to explain to the group that in my memory, aurorae just didn't move that
fast. Boy, was I wrong!
