behind the scenes of Salmon Cam

Last night, I had the privilege of touring the facilities at Poker Flat Research Range. It gave a great perspective of how the scientists study the aurora, as well as the location of the webcams, and how it all works. I got behind the curtain where the Salmon Cam and the cam on Au Live are hidden, and listened to their shutters click. The other camera on Au Live (they call it U-zo at Poker Flat) is located on top the roof, and I was able to see underneath it. The room had several set-ups in it, built up onto wooden platforms, then poking through the ceiling. Each area was covered up with wood, paper, and black curtains, and on the roof, they are covered with a clear plastic dome.

The aurora came out briefly, but intensely on top of the hill. The unusual happened last night as well. I did not witness an aurora low on the horizon, rather, it was overhead immediately, and then disappeared in the same way. I did not have anyone report the aurora from town in the Fairbanks area, other than stating what they saw on the cams.

The clouds eventually covered the sky after 1am. The aurora was seen a few times overnight, but there were enough clouds and light pollution to barely be able to see it. The aurora was seen on the Salmon Cam Website several times in the night, bright green, and bright green clouds, but to the human eye, it was mostly not as intense.