It isn’t often that an aurora is visible in Virginia. I saw one at C.M. Crockett Park in the 90’s and this one in October, 2003. To the unaided eye it was a gray smudge but it didn’t quite move like a cloud though you had to watch it for a while to notice that.

Doug and I drove up to Skyline drive in the hopes of getting a good shot. We picked a good spot and I set up the tripod and camera and started shooting. Eventually, a park ranger drove by and asked what we were doing but didn’t run us off to my surprise.

The green in the image is the aurora. The pink below is the glow from the lights of Front Royal.