The Aurora Summit is a yearly conference held by aurora borealis photographers, researchers, and enthusiasts. The event brings together individuals and families from across the United States, Canada, and Europe. For the first year in its history, the Aurora Summit was hosted in downtown Houghton at the BONFIRE! club at the Continental Fire Co.
The event spanned Nov. 6 to 8, and included discussion panels, trivia, information sessions, and speakers sharing their tricks on how to chase an aurora. Pilot Andy Berry connected aurora chasing to his aviation career and showed how websites, such as the Aviation Weather Center, can help enthusiasts find accurate cloud forecasts and areas with increased visibility.
Nov. 6 offered a photography bootcamp led by Instructor Marc Rassel, where aurora chasers learned editing techniques, camera functions, and how to properly capture an aurora in the night sky.
The night of Nov. 7 invited attendees to go on a group aurora chase starting from the Hampton Inn, where the group spotted the first sights of an aurora for the night. The chase then led to the waterfront at MTU, followed by darker skies in Calumet where they hoped to see some clearer activity in the skies.
Keynote speaker and program manager for MTU’s College of Engineering, Tom Oliver taught attendees about the mission to combat light pollution, as well as what to look for when chasing auroras, and how to chase auroras without being a disturbance to nature or other people.
Oliver highlighted the importance of keeping a high morale even when the skies are at a “solar minimum.” “The forecast, it gives us a reason to go out and into the dark, but the choices we make are what determine how it sings and blooms,” he said.
Oliver advised attendees on how to adapt to these solar minimum phases, suggesting they master the 27-day rotation cycle of coronal holes, and to broaden their focus in what phenomena to look for, such as airglow and the Milky Way.
Lori, who was a Michigan Tech student from 1980 to 1984, has attended the Aurora Summit for multiple years, and was excited that the conference had moved to Houghton. When asked why she attended, Lori responded, “I’m a chaser,” referring to her longtime enthusiasm for aurora watching, and proceeded to share her first captivating experience with an aurora borealis outside of DHH; “[I] came out of the hall, and the aurora was right above us.” Although Lori fondly remembers living on-campus and working as a student janitor.
In an interview, Aurora Summit co-founder Melissa Kaelin explained the event not only featured aurora chasing, but was also designed to “celebrate the art, culture, science, and photography of the aurora.” The aurora community this year gathered people from 16 different states and two different countries, according to Kaelin.
Kaelin notes a difference in the Houghton area compared to previous Aurora Summit venues, with it being “the farthest north it’s ever been held.” “We actually are having more fun and more success, I think, than we often do, just because of these beautiful clear skies in this northern location,” she said. When asked where the international event will take place next year, Kaelin said “I think we’ll try to bring it back to Michigan.”The event ended on Nov. 8 with Aurora Jeopardy and Trivia where attendees had a chance to win raffles and prizes, including an Alaska Northern Lights Trip from Cosmic Chaos Adventures.
For more information about the Aurora Summit organization, their future events, locations, and missions, visit the website at theaurorasummit.com or follow their facebook page, @aurorasummit, for informational posts.
