Green Aurora Borealis Columns Over Brooks Range, Arctic Alaska

Two bright ribbons of green aurora borealis rise from behind a line of snow-covered ridges in Alaska's Brooks Range, the display strong enough to wash pale green across the surrounding snowfields. The camera caught the lights mid-pulse, with one column climbing vertically through the stars and a second arc curving off toward the eastern horizon at 25mm, f/1.4, five seconds at ISO 2000.

Late October is a sweet spot for northern lights photography this far north. The nights are long and dark, but the country isn't yet locked down by full winter. Travel corridors stay open, temperatures are cold but manageable, and a clear sky at 68 degrees north puts you directly under the auroral oval on almost any active night.

Aurora borealis over the Brooks Range, Alaska. Photo © copyright by Carl Donohue.

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