Seward Candelabra

The “Seward Candelabra” Experience

Beams of brilliant aurora light blaze brightly above Seward, Alaska, as viewed from Miller’s Landing on Lowell Point just after midnight on February 21, 2023.

The Kenai Fjords and Resurrection Bay got lit up on this night, thanks to an impact from a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that was hurled from the sun. It was like a birthday cake in the sky with towering candles and when the solar wind blew on it, this radiant wish was granted.

This was an extra ordinary experience… extraordinary (!) but I’m not chalking this one up to luck because the writing was on the wall. Two CMEs ejected by the sun and expecting to arrive the night before had me on high alert. This coincided with a beautiful clear patch of Alaskan weather that lasted for the past two nights, thankfully, because the auroras were late! Nothing to do but hope & wait… and shore ‘nuff, they knocked our socks off! Thank you for not being completely predictable, aurora, the surprise factor is worth its weight in gold. More like priceless.

One of the more elusive targets I’ve had in my Aurora Hunting career is Seward, Alaska. I have put in my time with numerous attempts at trying to catch a big light show over this location, with minor results, so I am ecstatic that clear Earth weather and active space weather finally came together.