First Maine Aurora

I always watch the aurora forecasts closely, but it didn't appear there would be anything to get excited about in the next few days. Plus, the moon is close to full. So imagine my surprise when I was winding down for bed last night and got an aurora alert. I immediately got up, threw my gear together and flew out the door. I didn't even really have time to look up a place to go, so I took a quick cursory look on my phone and hoped for the best. I headed to a trailhead near the river that I found online, but have not yet visited, and decided if that didn't work out, I'd head to a boat launch along the Androscoggin River. On my arrival, the trailhead was in a thick canopy from the trees that surround this area, so I continued on to the launch in Gilead along the river. I took a quick test shot with my phone, which was unexciting, and is usually where I'd stop, but I swore I could see a pink haze, so I decided to try with my camera. I set it up and took a test shot, and sure enough, there was the pink glow of the northern lights. I set up the interval setting to take continuous shots with one camera and then set up another so that I could keep an eye on the lights without having to stop the intervals.

The waxing gibbous moon was high enough behind me to light the foreground, highlighting the thick greenery along the riverbanks. While the moon can sometimes interfere with seeing the aurora, in this case, it showcased the foreground. The Green Bridge, a single lane bridge spanning the river, shone brightly to the east.

I caught just the tail end of the substorm that was happening before they petered out. I looked at my apps to verify my suspicion that the light show was over, and sure enough, they confirmed it.

Then I headed to a nearby area I'd heard may be a good place to try for any future alerts. I was concerned may have too much ambient light, which was true, but I could see why someone might suggest it.

I headed home from there and immediately looked through the shots I got, transferring only those taken before the lights disappeared and choosing one to edit. Pillars from the lights danced on my screen as I sifted through the shots until they'd finally faded for the night.

I’m excited that I now have at least one good place to try watching the lights, though I still want to look for even more places for some good variety, and ideally, a clearer view of the horizon above the trees. I’ll be keeping my alerts on for future shows!