Time-lapse video shows ‘pillars of light dancing in the sky’

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — “Pillars of light dancing in the sky.” That’s how local photographer Vladimir Medvinsky described seeing the aurora borealis in the area of Lake Henshaw Thursday.

He and his family drove up to the peak of Palomar Mountain around sunset in hopes of capturing the Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, a rare comet that may be visible in the night sky for several weeks before disappearing for another 80,000 years.

“Unfortunately, it was too close to the sun and was lost in the haze,” said Medvinsky of the fleeting comet, which he hopes to capture either Friday or Saturday. This missed opportunity, however, led him to another celestial phenomenon worth capturing in time.

Medvinsky had heard that a strong geomagnetic storm triggered by solar activity, such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections, had just occurred. He knew that this meant the aurora borealis, more commonly known as the northern lights, could be seen farther south than usual — so he and his family left the mountaintop and headed toward the Anza Borrego Desert.

“When we got to the bottom of Palomar Mountain and turned east toward Anza Borrego, we could see something in the northern sky that looked like haze,” explained Medvinsky. “But from atop Palomar, we saw that there was little haze that evening, especially in the that direction. So I pulled over and took a snapshot with my cell phone, and sure enough I could see the aurora borealis.”

The photographer scurried to set up his professional camera gear, knowing this moment to be evanescent.

“In May, we had a strong geomagnetic storm and also saw the northern lights in San Diego. I took a few photos from Borrego, but those were sporadic,” said Medvinsky. “This time, I set the camera to shoot 10-second exposures, in two-second intervals, so I could later put together a short time-lapse of the lights dancing in the sky.”

The photographer ended up capturing two time-lapses of the aurora borealis: one from twilight and another a couple hours later, which can be seen in the video below:

As he was packing up, Medvinsky took a few final shots, rotating the camera across the sky from east to west, to capture what is known as stable auroral red, or “the SAR arc.” He said this was visible across much of the county, where the skies were clear, and didn’t seem to leave for much of the night.

The SAR arc is a rare, reddish-magenta optical phenomenon that occurs in the subauroral upper atmosphere, the photographer explained.

“Hope you got outside last night and witnessed this rare phenomenon in Southern California,” said Medvinsky.

For those who didn’t, you may have another chance. The National Weather Service has issued a a Geomagnetic Storm Watch through Friday.

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