Spectacular Aurora show lights up sky

Under a sky ignited by a rare geomagnetic storm, the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, unfurled a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors Friday night, drawing awe and cameras upward.

Eden Prairie Local News photographer Gretchen Haynes captured the extraordinary celestial event, which she described as the most intense Aurora Borealis display she has ever witnessed.

The flares are astoundingly active,” said Haynes, who tracked the Kp index – short for planetary K-index, a scale that measures geomagnetic activity from 1 to 9 – as it soared to a remarkable peak of 9. This intense solar activity painted the heavens with an array of colors visible in all directions: north, south, east, and west.

Haynes ventured west on Highway 212 at sunset, settling near Kings Lake in Penn Township to photograph the unfolding spectacle. As the light faded, streaks of color began to dominate the sky, growing more vivid as the night deepened.

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By 9:15 p.m., when Haynes began her photography, the Kp index had slightly decreased to 8.33 but remained high enough to sustain the vibrant display. By the end of her session at 10 p.m., the index had dipped to 7.6, yet the intensity of the Aurora hardly waned.

Equipped with a camera set to a wide-open f-stop of 1.78 and varying exposure times from 5 to 30 seconds, Haynes managed to capture the brilliance of the Aurora Borealis without the colors blurring together.

“The more intense the flares became, the shorter the exposure; otherwise, the colors get ‘muddied,’” she advised.

With the Northern Lights expected to be very active again Saturday night into Sunday morning, Haynes encourages skywatchers and photographers alike to seize the opportunity.

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