Sault-based photographer (and local dadventurer) Jeff Dixon and his sons were in just the right spot a few days ago and captured some fantastic images as the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, put on an extra-special show.
Jeff shared his images and tells us all about the adventure in the following note:
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It all started on Thursday night, my boys and I (four and seven) went camping along Lake Superior's eastern shores.
I mentioned to them that they might get to see the Northern Lights if they were lucky. Boy was that an understatement as just after the sunset we went down to the beach to test our luck and yes, yes they were out.
The display was nothing like I've seen before. They were dancing across the sky almost directly above us.
My oldest kept saying "Dad, Dad are you getting this?" and my reply was "Yes I sure am."
We watch them dance across the sky for a couple hours while photographing the show.
Well my youngest was more worried about monsters and zombies than what was going on in the sky. However it was a moment in my life that I will never forget and I hope my boys don't either. They continued over the next few nights although not as intense as that first night but still pretty cool!
The auroras tend to favour the equinox both spring and fall for some unknown reason (even scientists are not too sure why). The slightest disturbance in the solar wind can spark up a good storm (Northern Lights solar storm).
This particular one originated from a large coronal hole in the sun's magnetosphere that allowed a large mass of fast-moving particles to escape from the sun and interact with our atmosphere causing the Northern Lights.
After all was said and done I have a "life moment" I will never forget with my boys and got a couple pretty good shots!
All my work can be viewed on my website www.jeffdixon.ca and facebook page www.facebook.com/
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Check out more of Jeff's awesome work on his website, www.jeffdixon.ca, and Facebook page
