Residents looking into the sky last week got a treat, something that almost never visible this far south of the Arctic circle. Experts say the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are more visible now since the sun is at what astronomers call the “maximum” of its 11-year solar cycle. Hayes photographer Mike Cunningham was shooting the Andromeda Galaxy at Machicomoco State Park last Thursday and didn’t notice a thing. He got home to process those pictures and received texts from some buddies about the events in the sky. “I’m color challenged and couldn’t see them but headed to Warehouse Landing anyway to see what the camera could capture,” he said. “I wasn't the only one; folks were coming and going until midnight.” In this image, Cunningham captured Jupiter in the bottom right of the frame. He also sent in some photos of the Tshuchinshan-ATLAS comet that he took on Saturday. The sky is definitely putting on a show right now.
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