Photos of the Aurora Borealis
From the late 1980's thru 1991.

One of the most eerily beautiful sights in the night sky is the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. They are caused when electrically charged particles, spewed from the sun, crash into the earth’s upper atmosphere. Directed by the earth’s magnetic field to the north or south magnetic pole, these energetic particles collide with the molecules of the atmosphere and make them glow. At the peak of the sun-spot cycle, the sun produces more of the particles, and the Northern Lights can appear in the skies of southern New York.

The photos below show several auroral displays from the sun-spot peak of the late 1980’s thru 1991. This is just a sample of the many aurora photos taken by members of the Kopernik Astronomical Society.

Click here For aurora photos from the great October 2003 solar storm.

Click on each of the thumbnail images below to see a large version.
Note that these are big files, so expect to wait a few minutes for each to download.

The Aurora Borealis lights up the bowl of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major).

An Aurora over Stellafane, Springfield, VT. KAS member Jay Edwards took this photo during one of the annual Stellafane Telescope Maker's Conventions.

Aurora over Kopernik # 3

Click below to

George Normandin, KAS

December 30th, 1997