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December - Fairbanks

Why go to Alaska in the middle of December? To see the aurora borealis of course! After a couple nights up in Barrow we went down to Fairbanks and that first night had an incredible display. The next two nights we saw the northern lights but it was less intense. The rest of the week was cloudy, and then we saw them again from the airplane on our way out. The trip was overall a huge success as the pictures show.

There are a few gif animations made from sequences of pictures. This is the first time I've made GIF animations, and so it was the first time that I learned GIF is limited to 256 colors. Due to this there is some visible dithering on some of the animations, which is deeply unfortunate but I think they're still fun.
Our first view, and picture, of the aurora borealis
Our first view, and picture, of the aurora borealis
An animation created from a sequence of 4 pictures, taking at the same place over the course of a minute and a half
And we were there! Amazing!
A band of aurora passing right through the big dipper
An animation created from a sequence of 4 pictures, taking at the same place over the course of a minute and a half And we were there! Amazing! A band of aurora passing right through the big dipper
A real curtain effect
A real curtain effect
And a lot of stars
And a lot of stars
Some beautiful reds coming in
Some beautiful reds coming in
A pair of pictures, 10s apart
A sequence of pictures taken over a minute
A pair of pictures, 10s apart A sequence of pictures taken over a minute
When the lights were at their most intense, it was brighter than a full moon. Brighter than peak light in Barrow.
When the lights were at their most intense, it was brighter than a full moon. Brighter than peak light in Barrow.
Winding down
The snow buggy that we took up to the top of the mountain
The yurt at the top. We didn't spend much time there
Winding down The snow buggy that we took up to the top of the mountain The yurt at the top. We didn't spend much time there
Orion the Hunter, my favorite constellation
Orion the Hunter, my favorite constellation
A final flare up for the night
A final flare up for the night
The next night. A _lot_ of stars.
Aurora beginning to peak over the mountains
The next night. A _lot_ of stars. Aurora beginning to peak over the mountains