Wow.

Last night held the best display of northern lights I have ever experienced. Huge curtain of green and purple rippled across the sky shifting first south, then north, then back again. This alone would have put the display among the best I’ve seen, but for a few brief moments, something remarkable happened.

I was focusing on a very bright streak of light, using some overflow ice as a reflective foreground. I was getting some good images and was was enjoying the show. To the north, a small curtain appeared, and then for 15 or 20 seconds, it went ballistic. Pillars of light erupted, and popped like flash bulbs, red fading to purple, green and white. Pop-pop-pop! It was so bright that each flash was like a strobe on the snow around me. The popping created spirals in the sky, moving so fast, that photography could never adequately capture the phenomenon. And then, in just a few seconds, it faded leaving behind a red in the sky, that turned scarlet in the images.

If you didn’t see it, I’m sorry. I’m afraid my photos are a poor representation of what happened. Still, enjoy.