I never truly know someplace until I see it. Seeing pictures, I get the idea of the place but it is not the experience of the place. You see pictures of the Grand Canyon, Eiffel Tower, Barrier Reef, [insert place here], and you see the landscape, composition and colors. It is not until I behold the event or place that I get it. I knew the aurora would be that way.
In photos, I would see the northern lights as colors painted in the sky and knew it would be much more when I was standing underneath. Trying to use words and photos would not do justice to the spectacular display of sun, chemicals, and magnetism.
While facing north, the green started at about the 2:00 position in the sky. Unreal. Then the color appeared in the 10:00 position and eventually connected overhead in this great ribbon of showering color. The “curtain” of color would undulate across the sky. Although it was mostly green, there were tinges of red at the top and pink at the bottom. This was a stunning display of nature.
Here is a link to the Geophysical Institute and Poker Flat Research Range optics display website that shows a time lapse clip of an all-sky camera of what we saw 3/17/13 PS, this is worth the click.
