Missed Opportunity? A Lunar Lens and Unexpected Aurora

Last Friday night in Sedona, I had the pleasure of taking my new lens out for its first light. This lens, boasting an aperture of f/1.4, is significantly faster than my previous go-to for Milky Way shots. Almost immediately, I noticed some intriguing colors appearing in my images.

My first thought was, "Ah, it must be the new lens working its magic!" But then, a memory from exactly one year ago, May 11th, surfaced. I was shooting under similar conditions and had noticed the same peculiar coloring. This time, however, it dawned on me: there was an aurora happening, and I was a bit too focused on my gear to realize it right away.

While the aurora last Friday wasn't as intense as the one on May 11th, 2024, I spotted the characteristic magenta horizontal stripe in the left (east) corner of my images. This is the same signature I captured during the major aurora event last May, though much less pronounced this time around.

It got me wondering: how much more of this celestial display could I have captured if I had simply pointed my camera north without second-guessing my equipment? A missed opportunity, perhaps? Well, my life seems to be full of them! 🤣

Here are the shots from last Friday:

And for comparison, here are some from last year's significant aurora event:

It's a great reminder that sometimes, the simplest observation can lead to the most fascinating discoveries. The 'magenta stripe' as many astute observers pointed out, is actually the signature of a SAR (Stable Auroral Red) arc, a phenomenon caused by charged particles interacting with the Earth's atmosphere.

Carry on, and keep looking up!