My favorite Northern Lights photos from May 10th, 2024

May 10th, 2024 lived up to all the hype about being the most significant solar storm in decades. Like many of you, had all my cameras and supplies ready to go. The only question was which direction to head. Normally, I head north as that increases your chances of seeing aurora. However, the forecast was looking really good, so I ventured west instead, hoping to capture northern lights and the Tree in the Middle of the Road – and then move to hit some other locations on way back to Des Moines.

First stop, Tree in the Middle of the Road, which is located on the line between Audobon and Cass County. It wasn’t even fully dark yet and the aurora was already shining overhead. I ran into Katie Oosterhuis, who also made the trek from Des Moines to catch the aurora at the tree. It was pretty cool to hear Katie say that she has looked for my photos at the Iowa State Fair Photo Contest. However, this year, it will be me looking for her photos.

About 10:30pm, I decided to drive east and first stopped at Hogback Covered Bridge, then moved over to Cedar Covered Bridge.

Around 12:30pm, I stopped in at Cedar Lake, which is north of Wintereset, Iowa. At first, the aurora seemed to be dimming, but then it kicked back up into fashion showing vibrant reds and greens. Next, the aurora took over the entire sky, producing corona or overhead aurora that was vibrating or pulsing. It was is you thought that an airport light was circling the area – but in fact, it was the aurora pulsing at random intervals. Around 2pm, the aurora was the brightest and had the most motion/movement for the entire evening. During that time, I was able to capture some great hand held photos taken with just my iPhone – which was a first for me. Although I’ve captured aurora with my phone before, this was different – as the photos were actually really good compared to prior attempts.

What is corona northern lights?

When rays or bands of northern lights move overhead at your location, giving the perspective of looking directly upwards causes them to converge to a point to form a crown or “corona.” The corona is widely considered to be the most impressive type of aurora, as they only occur during strong overhead storms.