On October 10, 2024, a severe geomagnetic storm caused auroras to be clearly visible in the Lawrence, Kansas area. I had been monitoring the data online and decided to make my way to the Southwestern side of Clinton Lake, hoping to catch at least a little bit of it on camera.
As I hiked along the shore through a large swarm of insects, I set up my tripod near this group of old dead trees in the lake. I thought it might make for an interesting foreground should some auroras appear. It was just starting to get dark enough for a few stars to appear at this point. Covered in bugs, I took a few test shots to see if the Aurora was visible yet. There was a hint of purple in the sky, which was a good sign. Right around 8:30 PM, I was visited by a pair of wild raccoons as the sky suddenly lit up with color, at least on camera. I could make out a faint glow with the naked eye as the raccoons fished for mussels in the water.
The Northern Lights were progressively getting more intense and vibrant on camera, and to my delight I was actually able to see it clearly with the naked eye! This is extremely rare in this part of the world and was definitely much more than I expected to see. Aurora and Borealis, however, seemed completely uninterested (those are the names I gave to my two raccoon buddies.)
I stayed out until about 9:30 PM, then made my way home. The display was starting to fade at this point, and I still had to work in the morning.
I just wish I had remembered to bring bug spray.