December 2006
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  Summary: A coronal mass ejection hit Earth on Dec. 14th, sparking a severe (Kp=8) geomagnetic storm and auroras seen as far south as Arizona. The source of the CME was an X3-class explosion from sunspot 930 on Dec. 13th.
 
  Photographer, Location Images Comments


Chris Schur,
Payson, Arizona
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2, more

Easily visisble to the naked eye as a red glow to the north, the sky up to the zenith at one point was glowing a dull red color. The red color persisted well into the early morning hours. Thanks once again to Space Weather Phone for the heads up, otherwise we never would have seen it in Arizona!

Photo details: Canon 10D, ASA 800, 17mm lens, 10 minute exposures


Frank S. Andreassen,
Harstad, Norway
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2, #3, #4, more

Bright displays at 1600 local time.

Photo details: Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon 24mm/1.4 at 1.4. 20 seconds exp with 250 iso.


Andrew Laszlo,
Flagstaff Mountain, just west of Boulder, Colorado
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2, #3, #4

My dad up in Fort Collins gave me a call and said hey the auroras are going we can see them here in Fort Collins go out and take a look! What a show! I've never seen anything like that in Colorado.

Photo details: Canon Digital Rebel, 400 ISO, 30s exposures. Below lie the towns of Boulder, Longmont, and on the horizon Loveland, Colorado.


Jerry Zhu,
Madison, WI, USA
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2

It was good to see the auroras again. Mostly green glows.


Mike Hollingshead,
Blair, Nebraska, USA
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2, #3, #4, more

I thought the clouds would be a big problem but red was actually showing through the clouds at one point! Not quite as good a show as the one in Nov 7 04 or May 14 05, but a good show for sure.

Photo details: Canon Rebel XT, 17-40L lens, F4, 800 ISO and between 20 and 60 seconds.


Chad Quinn,
Gabriels, New York
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2, #3, #4

My wife and I were driving home and Ispotted a green glow. Seconds later, I got the call from Space Weather Phone. I went home, grabbed the camera and went searching for a good spo--which happened to be the local graveyard. Talk about creepy!

Photo details: Nikon D70s, 30sec, iso 500, f2.8


Bjorn Jorgensen,
Tromso, North Norway
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2, more

After a long period with weak aurora activity, we got some beautiful red auroras today.


R. T. Smith,
Stoneville, NC
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2, #3, #4, more

Sites like SpaceWeather.com are helpful when you're living in a fringe area like North Carolina. These digital images are noisy, but you can tell something is going on.

Photo details: Sony digital camera, ASA 400, 30sec exposure, f2.8.


Joe McBride,
Ada, Michigan
Dec. 14, 2006
#1, #2

A very rare treat for us here in Michigan in December.

Photo details: Nikon Coolpix 4500 set at ASA 200, 15 sec exposure.

more images: from Scott Bevier of Jackson, Michigan; from Burnie Schultz of Anchorage, Alaska; from Kenny Astrom of Mora, Dalarna, Sweden; from Roger Grant of Rockford, Michigan.