Sept. 30-Oct. 9, 2002
Aurora Gallery
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Summary: On Sept. 30th a solar wind shock wave--a coronal mass ejection (CME) hurled into space by an explosion near sunspot 134--swept past Earth and triggered a moderate geomagnetic storm. No one knew it at the time, but that was just the beginning of nine days of geomagnetic activity. Solar wind gusts from coronal holes and a series of CMEs kept the storm going fitfully until Oct. 9th. Sky watchers spotted auroras, off and on, as far south as Arizona in the United States.

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

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  Photographer, Location Images Comments

Jouni Jussila, Oulu, Finland
Oct. 3
#1, more J. Jussila: "The brightness of these auroras was just totally unbelievable!" Photo details: 0.5 s exposure time, Canon EF f/1.4, Fuji 400F.

Jo Majko, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Oct. 3
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 J. Majko: "I cannot recall ever seeing the auroras in such bright bands of green. For a short time they seemed actually brighter than the city lights (as you can tell from the photos with downtown Winnipeg in the background."

Tom Eklund, Valkeakoski, Finland
Oct. 1-2
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, more Photo details: 28mm at f/2.0, 15 sec and Fuji Provia 400F

Dr Russell Cockman, near Stirling, Scotland
Oct. 2-4
#1, #2, #3, more R. Cockman: "On October 4th, the auroras waxed and waned for several hours with much activity in the structured arc. For a few magical minutes the display erupted into a magnificent curtain that filled the northern sky. Huge "wow" factor! Minolta equipment, Kodak Elitechrome 400 slide film, exposures 30 to 60secs."

Dominic Cantin, 75 km north of Quebec city, Canada
Oct. 2-4
#1, #2, #3, #4, more D. Cantin: "These were some of the most beautiful auroras that I've ever seen. They were occasionally as bright as the full Moon!"

Darren Talbot, St Croix, Nova Scotia, Canada
Oct. 3
#1, #2, more Taken with a Pentax ME Super camera, 28mm WA lens @f/2.8 on Fuji 100 print film. Exposures were 10-30 secs.

Jean Chiasson, Laurentides Wildlife Reserve, Quebec City, Canada
Oct. 3
#1, #2, #3, #4, more Photo details: FUJI 800 X-TRA film, 28 mm.- f/2.8, 20 sec

Kaj Hoglund, Vaasa
Finland
Oct. 2
#1, #2, #3, #4 Photo details: Canon FD 24mm f/2.8, Elitechrome 400 15 seconds

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