I think almost everyone has the Aurora on their bucket list, and last night/early this morning was the strongest geomagnetic storm in 20 years. That meant everyone as far South as Florida had a chance, and boy did it deliver!
Below is some of the scientific data. We hit a KP 9, which is a G5 storm. The Aurora Borealis prediction maps were lit up like a Christmas tree!
I myself, being impatient, had been outside since about 8:40PM. It was a gorgeous sunset with a sliver of a moon.
By about 9:50PM, we thought we saw the slightest hint of pink towards the East, so I called the kiddos out and low and behold, our camera phones on night mode started to pick up a hint of color!
About 10 minutes later, the sky started to lighten and we stood there questioning, is this really it? Picture after picture showed more and more color. It came in waves where color was easy to see. There were greens, pinks, purples, and reds. Shooting stars occasionally crossed the sky. Everyone had their camera phones, and we also had the good DSLR out there on a tripod.
It was an amazing experience to have in the backyard. The KP is still very high, but we have rain and clouds today. Still, if it holds out, we may have a chance tonight too!