Northern Lights & Thunderhead

The aurora started out very dim around 11:00 p.m. CDT 7-21-09 [Near Siren, Wisconsin at Mud Hen Lake]. At first, I thought I was seeing noctilucent clouds because the glow was so soft. By 11:29 I took the first picture of the night. They lasted around 4 hours. As an extra bonus to the aurora's light show I was able to capture a retreating thunderhead that's illuminated by lightning. It was stunning.

Nikon D300, 17-55mm f/2.8 AFS lens. Exposure: 30s @ f/2.8 ASA 200

--Robert C.

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