Events in the Night Sky copyright 1999-2002 Stan Richard

Aurora Borealis- Des Moines, Iowa

Aug. 12, 2000, 3:30 am- I was at home earlier in the evening and the STD aurora monitor software showed we had a good chance of seeing the aurora here in the mid latitudes tonite, so I set the alarm for 3:00 am since the moon was still high in the sky in the earlier morning hours and decided this would be the best time for seeing any aurora.  This was also the evening of the peak of the annual Perseid meteor showers.  I grabbed my gear and headed to the Saylorville Dam just north of Des Moines and when I arrived was delighted to see the meteor shower going on full tilt and then there they were....the northern lights!  I set up my camera gear and started shooting.  At about 5:00 am when dawn was starting to fade out the aurora, a car full of loud, rowdy drunken young men pulled into the parking lot, their front left tire blown and the rim of the wheel throwing sparks everywhere, making a horrendous noise.  Needless to say, I loaded up and tried to get out of there quickly, but they were yelling for a ride into town and almost roadblocked me but with some tricky driving I managed to escape!

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