You’re invited to The Aurora Summit: Celebrating the Art, Culture, Science, and Photography of the Aurora Borealis! This event brings Aurora enthusiasts in the mid-latitudes together each year for a weekend workshop in the U.S.
You don’t have to be a scientist or a photographer to attend. We offer beginning and intermediate to advanced sessions. Many of our guests are even trying to view the Northern Lights for the first time!
Save the Date: Aurora Summit 19
UPDATE! The date and location of Aurora Summit 19 has moved!
We’re planning a great weekend, featuring a keynote speaker, panel discussion, educational sessions, prizes, special features and more. If we don’t see the Aurora Borealis and photograph it together at the Aurora Summit, you’ll leave knowing how to capture a good display on your own.
Save the date!
Aurora Summit 19
Friday, Nov. 1 – Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019
Harbor View Event Center
Washburn, Wisconsin
Details to come! Check back in June, when we aim to launch registration.
Aurora Summit 18 Recap
Revisit last year’s Aurora Summit, to see everything the Aurora Summit has to offer. We hope you’ll join us in 2019 on Lake Superior’s shore!
Aurora Summit 18
Celebrating the Art, Culture, Science, and Photography of the Aurora Borealis
Friday, Nov. 2 – Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018
Two Harbors, Minnesota
#AuroraSummit18
Please register to attend.
For details, check out the 2018 Conference Schedule.
Aurora Summit 18 Sessions
We are proud to announce the line-up of presenters for the Aurora Summit! On top of a full weekend program, Aurora Summit 18 will feature many breakout sessions, offering 12 presentations on Saturday related to the Northern Lights, Photography and the Night Sky.
During the simultaneous breakout sessions, experts present a wide variety of topics about the art, culture, science and photography of the Northern Lights. Guests may choose one presentation from each time slot, for a total of four. New this year, presentations will be rated Beginner (B), Intermediate (I) or Advanced (A). Here is the line-up for the Aurora Summit 18!
SATURDAY SESSIONS
Session I
1) Basics for Night Sky Photography (B), with Terry Mann
Find out what it takes to capture aurora photos at night, beginning with camera basics. From camera settings to focusing at night, you’ll get tips from a seasoned photographer that will help you get started in night photography or improve the quality of your images.
2) From Apps to Kp: Aurora Forecasting for Beginners (B), with Bob King
Get a crash course in aurora forecasting, with advice that’s fit for absolute beginners. You’ll learn what creates a stunning aurora display, how to track and monitor space weather, and where to find information that will help you plan your next aurora chase.
3) 10 Keys to Gain a Social Media Following (I), with Jerry Thoreson
Want to get more eyes on your photography and online presence using social media? This session will give you pointers on best practices to use on Instagram and Facebook that will generate more engagement and help you build your social media following.
Session II
1) Essential Software and Apps for Aurora Chasers and Photographers (B), with Michael Jordan
Gain a broad knowledge for creating better photographs of auroras using essential software and apps to develop a plan that you can execute on location, with a focus on artistic elements.
2) Aurora Culture and Mythology (B), with Jim Rock
Delve into the culture and mythology surrounding the Northern Lights with a native of the Dakota, who is also versed in Ojibwe heritage. You’ll learn about the meaning and connections people have formed with the Northern Lights, over the course of centuries.
3) The Juno Mission and Jupiter’s Aurora (B), with Dave Falkner
For two years, the Juno spacecraft has been in a polar orbit around Jupiter studying the planet and its atmosphere. Find out what discoveries it has made about Jupiter, with special emphasis on the Jovian aurora and contrasting it with Earth’s aurora.
Session III
1) Aurora Borealis: A Photographer’s Guide to Geomagnetic Midnight (I), with Michael Jordan
Get a brief overview of the key points a photographer should know and understand in order to to capture the aurora. The photographer has developed a simple recipe for aurora forecasting with the importance of geomagnetic midnight, as part of a guide that includes hierarchy modes of auroral morphology, the auroral atlas and onset observation sectors of storm phases.
2) Meet STEVE: The Aurora Getting All the Attention (I), with Bob King
Amateur aurora photographers helped uncover an unusual form of the Northern Lights called STEVE, which stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. Pay a visit to this unique phenomenon to get to know STEVE better.
3) Aurora from Satellites Above and Photographers Below (I), with Margaret Mooney
VIIRS is the only satellite instrument able to detect the Aurora Borealis, producing only 4 to 6 snapshots of the North American aurora each night. This presentation will share stunning VIIRS Aurora imagery before describing an effort from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) to match satellite images with citizen science ground-based pictures.
Session IV
1) Deep-Sky with Your D-SLR: Getting the Right Camera Gear (I), with Joe Polecheck
Get an overview of what camera gear and apps work best for planning and capturing the Milky Way, the Northern Lights and light painted scenes. You’ll come away knowing what equipment to use at night, including camera bodies, lenses, and intervelometers.
2) No Aurora Yet? Camera Techniques to Capture Elusive Light (A), with Terry Mann
Don’t waste clear skies! Learn the different types of imaging you can do while you are waiting for the aurora to appear, drawing on the photographer’s experience with light painting, aurora, star trails, the moon, storms and lightning, and even solar eclipses.
3) Establishing an International Dark Sky Park (B), with Mary Stewart Adams
Be inspired to find your stars again! Hear from the leader who took the initiative to establish the ninth International Dark Sky Park in the world at the Headlands in Northwest Lower Michigan in 2011, which was the first park to ever receive the International Dark Sky Place of the Year Award. Learn how you can make an impact in your community with dark skies.
SUNDAY SPECIAL FEATURES
The Aurora Summit team is building out the Sunday schedule, and new features will be announced as the event approaches!
• Travelogue Presentation, with Alaska Adventurers
• Between Fire and Ice: Desert Nights and Arctic Lights, including an outlook on Celestial Sights for 2019, presented by Bob Kelley, Retired Planetarium Director of the Scobee Education Center Planetarium
• Grande Finale!
Sessions may be subject to change.
For details, check out the 2018 Conference Schedule.
Featured Keynote Speaker
Mary Stewart Adams will present a keynote speech on “The Storyteller’s Night Sky,” during the Saturday evening banquet at Aurora Summit 18.
Mary is a self-described star lore historian who led the successful initiative to establish Michigan’s only International Dark Sky Park in 2011, and for nine years led the park to award-winning recognition for innovative programming and dark sky advocacy, including the top Pure Michigan “Pure Award” for stewardship of the state’s natural resources, and the first-ever International Dark Sky Place of the Year Award from the International Dark Sky Association, in 2017.
Mary has received many honors for her work, and travels extensively teaching a humanities-based approach to understanding the night sky. You can hear Mary’s “The Storyteller’s Night Sky” each week on Interlochen Public Radio and online. The traveling exhibit of her “Images from the Storyteller’s Night Sky” showcases years of storytelling through watercolor art by her sister, artist Patricia DeLisa.
Keynote: “The Storyteller’s Night Sky”
“The night sky can be read like a mighty book, the alphabet of which is formed out of the human striving of ages to understand life’s greatest mysteries. The ancient Egyptians built pyramids and aligned them to the stars; in the Middle Ages, mighty cathedrals aimed upward to the highest mystery; and here in the 21st century, this striving is still so consistent and pervasive, that scientists also position arrays of telescopes in specific places for getting the best views in order to answer the same questions. To “know the stars” through the striving of human beings is like building a ladder out of the greatest achievements in literature, in art, in research, agriculture, architecture, civic organization, the list is endless. And so the storyteller’s approach, which allows us to dip into the mythologies, the sometimes wild imaginations, and to the sciences for finding our own answers.”
— Mary Stewart Adams
Featured Presenters
Many outstanding ideas and proposals were entered for presentations at Aurora Summit 18, through the submission process on our website. With so much talent in the room, we had to make some tough choices when it came to presenters.
We’re excited to announce the featured presenters for Aurora Summit 18! Follow our social media channels to learn more.
Aurora Summit 2018 Presenters:
• Mary Stewart Adams, Presenter and Keynote Speaker, Host of The Storyteller’s Night Sky on Interlochen Public Radio and Founder of Headlands International Dark Sky Park
• Dave Falkner, NASA Solar System Ambassador and author of the book “The Mythology of the Night Sky – An Amateur Astronomer’s Guide to the Ancient Greek and Roman Legends”
• Michael Jordan, Michael Jordan. Photographer and traveler who grew up on the savannahs of Africa, venturing through nature, sailing oceans, hiking remote locations, underwater diving and paddling turbulent waters
• Bob Kelley, Retired Planetarium Director who led a 40-year career at the Scobee Education Center Planetarium, serving as both as planetarium director and “Mission Flight Director” in the new Challenger Learning Center. He has always had a passion for celestial photography, taking several trips to Alaska to image the Northern Lights or to the deserts of west Texas to enjoy the darkest skies on Earth and views of the Milky Way.
• Bob King, Photojournalist, creator of Astro Bob, and author of two books including “Wonders of the Night Sky You Must See Before You Die”
• Terry Mann, Photographer and traveler who leads workshops in Wyoming, and whose experiences include Alaska Aurora chases, the Venus Transit in Egypt, storm chasing, climbing to a summit in the Andes Mountains, and witnessing three Solar Eclipses
• Margaret Mooney, Director of Education and Public Outreach at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), who works with citizen science
• Jim Rock, Program Director of the Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium with interest in Ethno-astronomy and Archeoastronomy
• Jerry Thoreson, Independent Social Media Marketer and admin of Destination Duluth
Thank you to everyone who expressed an interest on our website. We appreciate your time, and we hope you’ll consider us again next year!
Past Events
In our inaugural year, we welcomed guests from more than eight states and provinces, including guests from as far as Georgia and Manitoba.
Our Inaugural Event!
Aurora Summit 17
Celebrating the Art, Culture, Science, and Photography of the Aurora Borealis
Friday, Oct. 27 – Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017
Two Harbors, Minnesota
Register: AuroraSummit17.MikeShawPhotography.com (Closed)
#AuroraSummit17
Aurora Summit 18
Celebrating the Art, Culture, Science, and Photography of the Aurora Borealis
Friday, Nov. 2 – Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018
Two Harbors, Minnesota
Register: http://aurorasummit18.eventzilla.net/ (Closed)
#AuroraSummit18
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