Nov. 5 - 6, 2001 Aurora Gallery
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Summary: A fast-moving coronal mass ejection (CME) that raced away from the Sun on Nov. 4th swept past our planet at 0150 UT on Nov 6th (8:50 p.m. EST on Nov 5th); the impact triggered a widespread geomagnetic storm. Sky watchers in many US states -- including Tennessee, Alabama, the Carolinas, Florida, Texas and California -- reported vivid red and green auroras.

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

  Photographer, Location Images Comments

Dennis L. Mammana, near San Diego, California, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, more D. Mammana: These are from the southwestern corner of the continental U.S. -- atop Mt. Laguna, 50 miles east of San Diego. All photos were taken with a Canon 24mm lens on Fuji Provia 400F film. " 1 to 30 minute exposures.

Lyndon Anderson, 15 miles north of Bismarck, ND, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, more Photos #1 and #2 show the Moon and nearby Jupiter as well as vivid auroras.

Stan Richard, Saylorville Lake near Des Moines, IA, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8 S. Richard: "Jupiter being quite close to the moon added a nice touch to this incredible display. I caught my first ever corona shot here in Iowa. The southern horizon was even aglow in red! 28mm lens at f/2.5, exposed for 15-20secs on Fuji 800."

Chris Picking, North Island of New Zealand
Nov. 6
#1 C. Picking: "This photo of Aurora Australis was taken from New Zealand looking south at 9:45 UTC on Nov. 6th. The Southern Cross and pointers are visible in the centre of the full-sized image." Photo details: Fuji Superia 400, 50mm lens. Exposure time ~15 sec.

Phil Hoffman, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Nov. 5
#1, #2, more P. Hoffman: "These were both made near Whitehorse, Yukon. It may have been cold, the the action in the sky was hot." Photo details: 20mm lens, Provia 400F, 15 seconds @ f/2.8.

Brad Templeton, near San Jose, California, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3 Many observers noted the "blood-red" color of auroras on Nov. 5th. B. Templeton caught these red auroras over the Calaveras reservoir in the hills northeast of San Jose. "You don't get many of these in the Silicon Valley," says Templeton.

Brian A. Klimowski, Rapid City, South Dakota, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2 B. Klimowski: "Incredible display last night! (Yes, those were my kids dancing and screaming excitedly in the front yard.) Broad green glows and faint curtains covered the 2/3 of the sky." Photo Details: Canon AE-1, 24 mm lens, Fuji Superia 400, 15 sec exposures.

Alena Pribyl, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, #4 Photo details: Minolta Xtsi, with Fuji 400 Superia film, F/3.5 with 30-60 second exposures, 10:30 to 11pm local time

Kevin Palivec, near Abilene, Texas, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3 K. Palivec: "These were shot on an old garage-sale Pentax SLR camera with Kodak ASA 200 color film at around 2 am CST bout 15 miles northeast of Abilene, Texas. The time exposures were around 20-30 seconds."

Dominic Cantin, 50 km north-west of Quebec City, at Lac St-Joseph , Canada
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5 Photo details: 28mm @ f 2.8, 25 seconds, Fuji superia X-TRA 800

Brett Walker, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Minolta DiMAGE 7 digital SLR. ISO 800, f2.8, 7-15 sec exposures.

Chuck Adams, near Statesville, NC, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5 C. Adams and members of the Piedmont Amateur Astronomers club: "At about 9:15 pm EST, we noticed a faint red glow in the northwest sky. Suddenly it brightened and the storm was on! Activity remained high for well over an hour." Photo details: Nikon FE2, Kodak Elite 400, 28mm f2 Nikkor, 30-45 sec.

Alexandre Vieira-Linhares, near Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Nov. 6
#1, #2, #3, #4 Photo Details: Camera Canon EOS 300, Lens 28 mm, f3.5, exposure 30 - 60 sec.

Michael Gavan, near Otsego, Michigan, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8 M. Gavin: "These are 10-16s exposures using a Kodak DC260 digital camera. A few pictures were 25mm wideangle, and some are using a 4-point star filter." The bright light in several of the photos is the quarter Moon. The show persisted from 9:30 to 12:00 p.m. EST.

Kevin Jung, Lowell, Michigan, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, #4 Photo Details: Camera: Canon A-1; Lens: 20mm f/2.8; Film: Kodak Gold 400; Exposure: 30 seconds.

Rick Davis, Dalton, Georgia, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, more R. Davis captured these blood-red auroras over North Georgia using a Kodak digital camera. Details: 11:24pm - 11:26pm EST, Kodak DC4800, 100 ISO, 16 sec. exp.

Tom Kaye, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Nov. 6
#1 T. Kaye: "We are 20 miles from the center of Chicago and 10 minutes north of O'Hare. This was a tremendous display even with the city lights." Photo details: Olympus DC600 digtal camera, ISO 200, f1.8 for 18 seconds. 15 minutes past midnight.

Pete Strasser, near Sacramento, California, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2 P. Strasser: "These were taken near Sacramento Airport at about 8 pm PST. It disappeared at moonrise. Such a solid mass of color, with peach colored beams streaking through! It was easily seen through the headlights of oncoming traffic."

Jim Brownfield, near Huntsburg, Ohio, USA
Nov. 6
#1, #2, #3 J. Brownfield: "All these were taken with a 35mm camera with a 28mm - 80mm zoom lense mounted on a tripod. Exposures were 20-30 seconds @f/4 on Kodak Supra 400 speed film. By far the most beautiful display I've ever seen!"

Vesa Särkelä, Kemijärvi,
Finland
Nov. 5-6
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Canon D-30, 20-30 mm, 200-400 ASA, 20-30 second exposures captured between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time.

Jessica Williams, Kalispell, Montana, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, more J. Williams: "We saw mostly red rays through tons of light pollution." Photo details: 400 speed film, 35 mm Minolta X700, f1.7 with auto-exposure lasting about 3 seconds.

Bob Sandy, Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2 B. Sandy photographed these auroras over Virginia using a digital camera at 10 p.m. local time.

Scott Machalk, Marquette Michigan, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Fuji NPR ASA 160 Canon EOS 1N w/28mm lens at f1.8 for 15-30 seconds. 10:30-11:00 EST

Steve Rismiller, Milford, Ohio, USA
Nov. 5
#1 S. Rismiller: "This 3-image composite was shot at 2:15 am with a Nikon Coolpix 995 digital camera, ISO 200, and 5 to 6 sec exposures. Even with the bright moon, the red auroras were easily seen in the west, north, and east. It was a real treat for south west Ohio."

George Grauke, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Nov. 5
#1 Photo details: Canon PowerShot G1, 5 sec, F 2.5, 400 ISO, 10 minutes before midnight local time.

John McVey, near Boise, Idaho, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Canon G2 digital camera, 7mm lens (34mm equiv), f/2.0, 8 seconds at ISO 100.

Bill Kramer, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3 B. Kramer: "This was one of the best displays I have ever enjoyed. The Moon is rising in this image taken at 10:30 local time. A bright red and green aurora was vivid across the northern horizon. Even as the moon rose, the auroras remained bright." Photo details: Kodak DC 265, 16 sec.

Tony Stallan, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Nov. 5
#1, #2 T. Stallan: "These are the first Northern Lights I have ever seen ... I stood out in the cold for almost 2 hours. The lights were mainly green with brief displays of vivid reds."

Jan Curtis, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3 Photo details: Sony Mavica 300, 8 sec. exp., f/2.1, between 9PM and 10PM MST.

Steven Lichti, near West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Nov. 5
#1, more Photo details: 10:30 p.m. local time, Olympus E-10 at 28mm, ISO 160, F 2.0, 12.4 sec. exposure

Andre Clay, 50 miles south of Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3 A. Clay: "Shortly after sunset the auroras appeared. I witnessed two full coronas, blood-red in color. Absolutely incredible!" Photo details: Sony DSC-S70, ISO 100, 4s exposures.

David Zelden, Thornhill, Ontario Canada
Nov. 5
#1, #2, #3, #4 D. Zelden: "A panoramic night sky show exploding with a plethora of colours in a show I’ll never forget." Equipment: Canon EOS with 50mm lens, Kodak 400 Royal Gold. Exposure time: 25 seconds.

Tom Sundstrom, New Jersey, USA
Nov. 5
#1 T. Sundstrom: "I took this picture looking north at 11 p.m from the end of my driveway." Photo details: Olympus C-2100UZ digital, f/2.8,
ISO 100, 16 seconds.

Dale Hudjik, near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Nov. 5
#1, #2 Photo details: Olympus 4040, ISO100, f1.8, 16sec, 11:10PM MST.

See also our Oct. 28, 2001, aurora gallery!

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