I follow a couple of aurora hunter groups on Facebook and had been monitoring reports that we could have a good chance of viewing the northern lights (aurora borealis) on Tuesday, November 7th. When I checked the groups around 7:00 p.m. that evening I learned that we were in a Kp7, which means that if they decide to show up, we should be able to see them in central Michigan. It was early in the evening when I started seeing reports that lady aurora was dancing and people were seeing them in Northern Michigan so I was glued to Facebook for the next hour! Just before 8:40 I saw a post that someone reported seeing the lights in northern Kent County! I could hardly contain my excitement and got my equipment ready. While waiting on my husband to get around, I decided to go outside and check to see if I could see them from my house. We have a lot of light pollution so I really wasn’t expecting to see them but much to my surprise, I could see pillars with the naked eye! I quickly sat up my camera and took a test shot. It was horribly blurry but I could see several pillars and the red and yellow glow! I got everything set up and focused to the best of my ability and started shooting. Keep in mind that the camera can see so much more than the human eye. I’m very pleased with how well the shots turned out considering my picture is a little overexposed and not completely focused. I guess that means more practice. 🙂
