Astronomy Magazine Article

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=170 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Astronomy magazine August 2000 edition. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="6628bc00.jpg" border=0 width="139" height="192" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="home.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Northern Exposures Photography "><U>Home</U></A></div> <div> About Us</div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Birds Nature / Potpourri"><U>Photographic prints</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Custom Photo Greeting Cards"><U>Custom photo greeting cards</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Comet HaleBopp"><U>Comet Hale-Bopp</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Northern Lights"><U>Aurora / Northern Lights</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lightning !!"><U>Lightning</U></A></div> <div> <I><B>Astronomy Magazine Story</B></I></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ordering Information"><U>Ordering info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Scheduled Events"><U>Upcoming events</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us / Lighthouse Photos"><U>Contact us</U></A></div> <div> <B>Publications</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights Photographs & Youth Sports Photography</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights Photog"><U>home</U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> Astronomy Magazine Article</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="360" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="356"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="23" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="356" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="356"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="356" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> These pages were scanned from the August 2000 edition of Astronomy Magazine . A photograph I had taken of the northern lights accompanied by an article I wrote appeared on these pages. My daughter was largely responsible for my good fortune of being at the right place at the right time.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="09cf5420.jpg" border=0 width="245" height="322" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   <IMG SRC="09df0410.jpg" border=0 width="240" height="321" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> this is how the article reads :</div> <bR> <div> Sharing the Northern Lights</div> <div> A father and daughter enjoy solar maximum's splashy aurorae.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> On the evening of February 11, I gave a snowmobile ride to my four-year old son Ty and my nine year old daughter Paige. It was getting cold so we kept it short. Our routine is to drive to the top of the hill in the middle of the field where we remove our helmets and gaze at the stars. I try to point out planets or other celestial bodies and give them some background to help them appreciate the night sky.</div> <div> On this night there was a faint rosy glow on the horizon. I told my daughter that the last time I saw a reddish aurora anywhere near that bright was 9 years ago when she was an infant. My son, of course, claimed to have seen it too, but for some reason we didn't believe him. I told them that if these lights "turned on" it could be spectacular. The temperature had dropped to zero and it was late so we came back to the house and turned in for the evening. One of the last things my daughter asked was to be awakened if the northern lights "turned on" like I hoped they would. I promised her I would.</div> <div> My attempts at sleep were interupted every few minutes by an impulse to run to the windows to check the lights and fulfill my promise to my daughter. At around 1:30 a.m. my wife kicked me out of bed, so I went to lie on the couch and keep my vigil without disturbing her. The windows were beginning to frost and the temperature had dropped to around -10 F. The auroral sheets continued surging but without any red hues. The phosphorescent greens weren't what I had hoped for,but they were exceptionally bright, so I woke my daughter up.</div> <div> We stepped onto the porch, and I warned her that when the outside door opened she was going to get a blast of frigid air. I said she should scan the horizon quickly. When the door opened her eyes grew big and she said "Wow ! That's pretty !" I caught a glimpse of red out of the East ,asked her to step back, and poked my head out the door...on the Northeastern horizon there were beacons of red with broken shards of magenta light shooting upward. I swept my daughter off her feet and stepped out onto the porch with her. We were both in awe. We enjoyed the show for as long as my bare feet could stand it. When tucking her back into bed she said, "Thank you, Daddy".</div> <div> Now I had work to do. I threw on my snowmobile suit and hit the field with my camera. The first five or six exposures worked fine but the film became like leather and the batteries weakened. I returned to the house, took the camera apart to remove the battery pack and warmed it up on the coffee maker. I then returned to the garage to put everything back together for more exposures. The northern lights would simmer to a glow and then erupt into fiery colors. Running back and forth to the house about half a dozen times to warm the batteries helped, but now the shutter would not open either on the timer or manually.</div> <div> As morning approached, the color show was actually peaking. But my camera was not working - the timer would beep faster and faster and then...nothing. I needed power, just a little. What would NASA do ? Divert power, shut down unnecessary functions. But how would I do that ? The timer ! It beeps; beeping takes energy. I turned the audio portion of the timer off and recomposed my shot. Will it work ? I depressed the timer button and stood back. The reflected red from the camera pulsed progressively faster on the snow, and I imagined the beeping that normally accompanied the strobe. Then the moment of truth. Cashunk ! The shutter opened ! I recomposed, and it opened again and again...</div> <div> When my daughter was about 4 years old when we used to sleep out under the stars in our sleeping bags, watching meteor showers and pointing out constellations and planets. In 1997 my two-year-old son had to say goodnight to Comet Hale-Bopp every night. These were defining moments that drew us together. I hope that my children share similar experiences with their children. I'm sure there will be more, but I owe the shots I made of the northern lights to inspiration from NASA, my coffee maker, and a nine-year-old girl.</div> <bR> <div> This geomagnetic storm warning was issued in correlation to that evenings auroral activity.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="09e0b670.jpg" border=0 width="523" height="615" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div>                                                                <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lightning !!"><U>< Go Back</U></A></div> <bR> <div>                                                                                             <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Custom Photo Greeting Cards"><U>  </U></A><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#FF33CC" FACE="Baskerville Old Face" ><A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Custom Photo Greeting Cards"><U><B>Next Page ></B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>