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The Night the World Saw the Aurora

Chasing the northern lights close to home

By Scott Richardson

October 13^th, 2024

An intense solar storm was forecasted. The skies were clear. I'd seen this story before, and I was skeptical.

Chasing the northern lights has proved frustrating in the past. It's always a battle between sleep vs a finicky phenomenon and solar storm alerts vs clouds.

But the stakes of chasing the aurora close to home were incredibly low. I made dinner at home, then planned to arrive at a familiar lake 40 minutes before dark. Within five minutes of my destination, the sky turned bright red, and pillars danced above the road.

As cars and people crowded the lake's northern end, I moved to an airfield atop a hill with unobstructed views in every direction.

I met some astronomy enthusiasts from a local club, then headed off to shoot photos on my own. The aurora had been relatively quiet since the initial substorm subsided, but a faint glow remained in the sky the entire night. Suddenly, activity picked up, and bright red and green curtains danced in the sky.

The second substorm lasted for close to fifteen minutes and produced beautiful colors.

By 11:30 PM, I was ready to start heading toward home. I drove toward the lake, hoping to stop for a quick look before moving on. The crowd had mostly dispersed, and the ones who stayed didn't let the cold or faint lights bother them. I stayed until 1 AM and was treated to more dancing pillars reflecting in the lake.

I've previously chased the aurora in Alaska and Iceland. While their northern latitude, high probability of aurora, dark skies, and beautiful landscapes are alluring, my fun within an hour of home was highly satisfying. I left home with low expectations, but I was blown away by how bright and active the aurora was. And how much I could see with my naked eye despite the light pollution of the Philadelphia suburbs.