Photo Shoot: Night Sky Drama

A storm warning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , NOAA, was the last thing a weather- weary world wanted to see after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The warning sounded ominous, “G4(Severe) Storm Watch for October 10-11. A fast coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the sun the evening of 8 October 2024 and is likely to arrive on Earth 10 October.” Now even space weather was sounding dire from the Space Weather Prediction Center .

Like many a storm on Cape Cod, this one beckoned photographers out to take a look. But instead of a sturdy pair of boats and raingear, the only requirement was a tripod, and even that was optional with today’s cell phone technology. Unlike some weather forecasts, the space weather arrived as predicted.

Still looking for A3

As a skeptical photojournalist I had my doubts. I’ve chased comets, still looking for A3 in the western sky at sunset if any one has seen it. Meteor showers are another recurring night sky adventure that I have never quite conquered. So I was late to the game for likely the best aurora borealis sky show I have ever seen. I still managed to catch some action — lucky to find a dark sky spot, which can be tricky as there always seems to be a streetlight hanging over most beach parking lots with wide views of the night sky.

I will keep my location unpublished to remain on good terms with the local sky watchers. By the time I arrived about 10 people were transfixed, necks craned up toward the north. Fail to plan, plan to fail was a fair assessment of my situation. Trying to screw a bulky camera onto a ¼-20 threaded tripod screw in near total darkness is a classic bumbling move. Finally I gave in with a small penlight to brighten the situation, knowing the wrath that would rain down from the other spectators if I ruined their night vision.

Finding the proper time exposure took longer than hoped. The G4 storm was waning but I was lucky to get several images, thankfully one frame, 10 seconds at f/4, had a person that stood still long enough. I had missed most of the rainbow-colored show earlier in the evening, but I didn’t leave empty handed. From now on I will pay more attention to the space weather and perhaps just look out the window to see what is happening here on Earth.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Photo Shoot: Night Sky Drama