Another shot of the northern lights over the Mustang Mach-E.

A Stunning Aurora Night in Fort Collins

Felix Wong's avatar
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I was working on catching up on a huge backlog of blog posts when a message popped into my inbox from a neighbor. The subject line read, “Aurora borealis from your backyard.”

Inside was a photo of a red and green sky rising behind a tall tree next to a house. It looked like the kind of dreamy, otherworldly postcard you’d find in a souvenir shop in Iceland. But this wasn’t Iceland—it was my neighbor’s house, a mere stone’s throw away.

Immediately, I stopped what I was doing. (By the way, I have almost caught up on that giant backlog of posts from the last couple of months. Take a look at the blog if you’ve missed them—especially if you follow this site through RSS readers like Feedly, which often don’t pick up backdated articles.)

I stepped outside and—wow. The sky was awash in vibrant red and green, shifting and glowing like a slow-motion fireworks show. Fortunately, there’s very little light pollution to the north of Fort Collins, so I could make out the stars as clearly as the aurora itself. Unlike last year, when I saw the northern lights for the first time in my life after driving all the way out to Wyoming, this time the colors were plainly visible right from home. And while modern cameras do tend to exaggerate the saturation, what my eyes saw wasn’t too far off from what my iPhone captured.

Excitedly, I ran over to some nearby trails to take a few more photos. A handful of neighbors were out too, but mostly I wandered alone, scanning for the best vantage points over the rooftops. Here’s a shot I took of the aurora over the neighborhood.

The aurora borealis as seen over the Hearthfire community in north Fort Collins.
The aurora borealis as seen over the Hearthfire community in north Fort Collins.

I texted a few friends, especially knowing how disappointed they were to miss last year’s display. My friend E had been waiting ages to see the northern lights—this was one of his bucket-list dreams—and finally, he was going to get his chance.

After that, I hopped into the Mustang Mach-E and drove out to some gravel roads north of town where I sometimes run. I thought it would be fun to get photos of the new car with the aurora glowing behind it, just like the photos I took of Teeter with the northern lights last year.

The aurora over a county road in north Fort Collins.
The aurora over a county road in north Fort Collins.

Those photos are below. Pretty amazing, right?

The aurora over my Mustang Mach-E. The red lights at the left are from the NIST radio towers that broadcast time code signals from the nation's atomic clock to most of North America.
The aurora over my Mustang Mach-E. The red lights at the left are from the NIST radio towers that broadcast time code signals from the nation's atomic clock to most of North America.
Another shot of the northern lights over the Mustang Mach-E.
Another shot of the northern lights over the Mustang Mach-E.

As the colors finally began to fade into the night, I found myself lingering on those gravel roads longer than necessary, just soaking it all in. Even though there weren’t many people around where I was, I loved knowing that neighbors and friends across Fort Collins were stepping outside at the same time, looking up at the same glowing sky.

Indeed, it was neat to later learn that a large swath of the United States was being lit up by the northern lights–even as far south as Florida!

Moments like these—unexpected, celestial, and quietly shared—are what make being here so special. I drove home with slightly chilled hands, a full camera roll, and a renewed sense of wonder.

Another view of the aurora over the Hearthfire community.
Another view of the aurora over the Hearthfire community.