On March 13, 1989 I was out in the side yard using a new telescope and I was not paying attention to the time. It was aboutr 2:00 AM and I had to get up for work in the morning. I began to notice a greenish glow on the horizon and I thought it was light pollution from Glen Cove but I didn't recall the greenish tint. Gradually the green went away and was replaced by a brighter reddish glow. Finally it dawned on me - I was seeing an aurora! And seeing an aurora so far south from the northern latitudes was very unusual. So I ran in the house, grabbed film Nikon and a 20mm lens and some 3,200 speed Fuji color negative film and quickly set to work as one area of the sky would fade and another area would begin to show color! It was just astounding to see!
Look how brilliant the red color was! And you can see the Big Dipper hanging in the top of the photograph. The reason you are seeing these photographs now, 37 years later is because I received a phone call from a company that sells college-level courses to the public, and a professor is making a new course and one episode will be about the 1989 eclipse! The producer had looked everywhere and couldn't find any photographs of the event, until he found some of my photos online somewhere! So how cool will that be for me to be part of the course. I will get a copy of the course when it is done! Oh, and by about 3:00AM the aurora had completely faded and I finally went to bed!
3 comments:
Wow! What a great photo of an amazing phenomenon. What beautiful colors and I like the way the house and the trees add some shapely detail to the scene. Trace
These photos are stunning and now will be famous. Good thing you never throw anything away LOL.
The first photo is stunning! It’s exciting to see so many stars. I love seeing the Big Dipper in a red sky. It’s beautiful.
You must be elated about your photos being used for a college course.
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