Northern Lights Aurora Over CT 8-15-2026

Back on May 10th, 2024, an unusually strong geomagnetic storm brought the aurora borealis far enough south to be visible right here in Connecticut. Severe solar activity like this rarely reaches our latitude, so catching it from home was a unique experience. To the naked eye, the colors appeared as faint, hazy pillars of light across the sky—noticeable, but nowhere near as intense as they look on camera.

To pull out the full depth of color, I set up a camera for a long exposure on a tripod. This shot was taken using a 13-second exposure, which allowed the sensor to collect enough light to reveal bright magenta and violet vertical pillars rising high above the tree line, along with a softer band of emerald green glowing near the right side of the horizon. Silhouetted treetops and the corner of a roof anchor the foreground against a clear, star-speckled sky.