In May 2024, a series of CMEs (coronal mass ejections) sent billions of tons of highly charged particles rushing outward from the Sun at between 500 to 3000 kilometers per second. When some of these particles reached the upper atmosphere of Earth, they interacted with the magnetic fields at the northern and southern poles to cause oxygen and nitrogen molecules to speed up and glow. These images were all taken from the same spot on the southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, just south of the Canadian island of Vancouver, on May 11, just short of midnight.
Aurora Borealis, looking north from the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This is a 30-second clip recorded without modification. It isn’t as interesting as the other clips, but it is closer to what the naked eye could see. This is the only clip with sound, and the sound isn’t that interesting. Video by Lawrence I. Charters. Click on the YouTube logo for a larger view.
Aurora Borealis, looking north from the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This is a two-minute clip compressed into a 5 second timelapse. Video by Lawrence I. Charters. Click on the YouTube logo for a larger view.
Aurora Borealis, looking northwest, with the moon on the lower left, strange people walking in the foreground, and New Dungeness Light blinking in the lower center. Two minutes compressed into 6 second timelapse. Video by Lawrence I. Charters. Click on the YouTube logo for a larger view.
Aurora Borealis, looking north looking north from the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This is a two-minute clip compressed into an 8 second timelapse. Video by Lawrence Charters. Click on the YouTube logo for a larger view.
Aurora Borealis, looking almost straight up. To the naked eye, this looked like straight lines radiating from a star, but this two-minute clip, compressed into a 6 second timelapse, reveals a different story. Video by Lawrence Charters. Click on the YouTube logo for a larger view.
Aurora Borealis, looking northwest from the southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with people walking in the foreground, New Dungeness Light blinking in the lower left, and two ships moving along the Strait. Two minutes compressed into 6 second timelapse. Video by Lawrence Charters. Click on the YouTube logo for a larger view.
Aurora Borealis, looking northwest from the southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the city glow of Victoria, BC, on the lower left, New Dungeness Light blinking in the lower center, and a ship moving along the Strait. Four minutes compressed into 16 second timelapse. Video by Lawrence Charters. Click on the YouTube logo for a larger view.
Aurora Borealis, looking west-northwest from the southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the moon low on the left, the city glow of Victoria, BC, on the lower center, and New Dungeness Light blinking in the lower extreme right.Three minutes compressed into an 11-second timelapse. Video by Lawrence Charters. Click on the YouTube logo for a larger view.
