Sept. 3-4, 2002, Aurora Gallery
back to spaceweather.com

Summary: On Tuesday, Sept. 3rd, with no warning, the interplanetary magnetic field near Earth turned south and triggered a G2-class geomagnetic storm. Canadians, northern Europeans, and some sky watchers in northern US states saw vivid green auroras for more than 9 hours on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Sept. 4th.

Unless otherwise stated, all images are copyrighted by the photographers.

  Photographer, Location Images Comments

Lyndon Anderson, near Bismarck, North Dakota, USA
Sept. 3
#1, #2, #3, more L. Anderson: "All three photographs show the city of Washburn, ND, (20+ miles away) on the horizon." Photo details: Pentax ZX-M camera, Sigma 28 lens, 1.8 aperature, Fuji Superia Xtra film, 15 second exposures.

Carol Lakomiak, Tomahawk, Wisconsin, USA
Sept. 4
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 C. Lakomiak: "It was an absolute delight when the auroras unexpectedly popped in to keep me company while I was out with my telescope. An absolutely beautiful and dynamic display!"

Warren Justice, near Grayling Lake, Riding Mountain National Park.
Sept. 4
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5 W. Justice: "This aurora display had a lot of activity in the south which is fairly unusual. My son Jairus enjoyed the auroras, too. He also kept watch for a constant concern, blackbears!"

Paul Wicklund, Colbert, Washington, USA
Sept. 4
#1, #2, more P. Wicklund: "This display produced some incredible waves racing overhead about 1/2 second apart and lasting for about 20 minutes. The waves are impossible to photograph with a still camera, but are an amazing sight to see." Photo details: Minolta X 700 with Kodak Max 400 film and 20 second exposures.

Darlene Atkinson, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Sept. 3
#1, #2 D. Atkinson: "The aurora show started at 9 pm and lasted until 11:15 pm MST, with the lights (mostly blues) dancing in all directions and overhead." Photo details: Canon, Fiji iso 200, exposure 10-20 sec

Suzanne Ruby, Elk, Washington, USA
Sept. 4
#1, #2, #3, more S. Ruby: "The display began with ribbons and other forms I had only seen before in Alaskan pictures. I couldn't capture the pictures fast enough. After an hour the aurora shifted to a powerful glow up north--it looked like an ongoing explosion with soft edges."

Jim Archer, Lake Stevens, Washington, USA
Sept. 3-4
#1, #2 J. Archer: "I missed the best part of the show but there was just enough activity left to get these photos. First saw lights at 10:00 PST and was still going at 2:30am. It was a nice surprise!" Photo details: Olympus E-10 at ISO 320, f2.0 for 30 sec

Lauri Kangas, Caledon, Ontario, Canada
Sept. 3-4
#1, #2, #3, more Photo details: Nikon F2 35mm camera, 28mm lens, f/2.8, 20 to 30 second exposures.

Sallie Carlson, near Hutchinson, Minnesota, USA
Sept. 3
#1, #2, more Photo details: Fuji Superia 800 - 24mm lens - f2.0 @ 30-45 seconds.

Alan Stankevitz, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Sept. 3-4
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5 A. Stankevitz: "Around 11pm local time, a bright diffuse glow appeared on the northern horizon and by 1am it was going pretty good with curtains dancing in the sky all the way to the zenith. Not much red color, but a lot of bright green." Photo details: Canon Digital SLR - D60. Various exposures (mostly 6 to 20 seconds), ASA 400 and ASA 800 settings.

Brett Walker, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA
Sept. 4
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Minolta DiMAGE 7, iso 400, f2.8, 30 sec exposures

William Biscorner, Casco, Michigan, USA
Sept. 3-4
#1, #2, #3, more W. Biscorner: "At 11:45pm, Sept. 3rd, I saw a glow very low on the northern horizon. AT 2:30am, Sept 4th, I saw the faint aurora higher on the horizon. It was on and off until 5:30 am. First aurora of 2002!"

James Hamilton, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada
Sept. 4
#1 These auroras took J. Hamilton by surprise, but he was able to capture them on film anyway.

Terry Lutz, Plymouth, Ohio, USA
Sept. 4
#1, #2, T. Lutz: "It's been a while since we've seen auroras in northern Ohio. Even though it was not a spectacular display, it was exciting." Photo details: Canon A40 digital camera, 15 sec. exposures at f2.8

Mike Hendley, Carp, Ontario, Canada
Sept. 4
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Canon G-2 at ISO 200 for 15 seconds

Aaron Albert, Toronto, Canada
Sept. 4
#1, #2 "These green auroras appeared in the light polluted skies of Canada's largest city," says Albert. Photo details: Nikon Coolpix 880 digital camera, exposures between 10 and 20 seconds.

See also: a gallery of aurora pictures captured in August 2002

back to spaceweather.com