On October 3rd, 2024, a powerful X9.1-class solar flare occurred on the Sun, producing an Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejection. I spent the following days reading the space weather data, monitoring the progression of the solar wind toward us, and planning and dreaming my future shots. Being a full-time Northern Lights photographer, I am always excited about solar events, and I was thrilled.
As predicted, the CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) struck Earth’s magnetic field on October 6th, and surprisingly, nothing happened for hours. All around the world, the aurora photographers and chasing community were puzzled and began to think the CME was a dud, or maybe the solar wind had missed Earth.
I was puzzled, too, and almost ready to give up. I started to believe that it had missed us and didn’t feel too bad when the weather became increasingly overcast throughout south-central Alaska.
Then, as night fell on October 7th across North America, the auroras spread across more than 20 US states. Even with the overcast skies overhead, I couldn’t give up and went out searching for some clearing in the skies. I was fortunate to have a window of about 30 minutes of clear skies near Talkeetna, Alaska, that night to photograph the fast and furious auroral display. I positioned myself by a nearby lake and witnessed the most impressive and stunning northern lights. The display, full of intense, multicolored auroras reflecting on the lake, showcased the depth of the auroras and every color imaginable. It was a Dance of Colors, which became my image’s title. I love my life!
