Unexpected light show at Island Point

Two weeks ago, I planned to capture the Carina Nebula rising over this little island. I’ve been here before, about two years back and I thought last Saturday seemed perfect to go back to this popular location—moonset was at 2:30 AM, so I arrived around 1 AM with time to set up, grab some moonlit ground shots, and get ready for a sky panorama as soon as the moon dipped below the horizon.

 

But, to my surprise, I got a notification during the day about a large CME and possible #aurora. With the Kp-Index at 5, I didn’t think much of it, but sure enough, faint red-pink beams started appearing in my ground shots, despite the bright moon above! I threw out my original plan and went with the flow, capturing this scene instead.

 

Here’s one of the shots from that unforgettable evening. A few passersby added some extra light, but I think it adds a bit of life to the moment!

 

 

Sky

Nikon D5500 (fullspectrum mod)

Nikon 50m f/1.8

Star Adventure 2i Pro

Hoya UV/IR Cut filter

7x20s, @f/2.8

 

Ground

Nikon D5200

Samyang 24mm f/1.4

4 portrait mode shots at f/4

 

Done