Aurora Above the Maples: Just North of Toronto | October 2024 |

You don’t need to travel to the Arctic to witness the aurora’s magic. In October 2024, a rare G3 geomagnetic storm lit up skies across southern Ontario — and tucked away in Nashville Conservation Reserve, just outside the Toronto city lights, I found myself under a sky exploding in green, violet, and pink. This blog is a visual diary of that extraordinary night: where fall seasonal tones meets the cosmic glow.

The Unexpected Show

A news alert popped up on my phone predicting increased Northern Lights activity in the southern region of Canada. With no expectations, I went to the nearest dark area to avoid light pollution. No lengthy drives or northern expeditions—just 20 min drive north west of Toronto, a camera, and a lucky night. On a chilly late evening, I moved away from the parking lot to avoid the headlights of other visitors, following a faint green band on the horizon.

A moments later what I got was an aurora outburst no one saw coming — ribbons of green, red and violet tearing through the sky.

Green Between the Trees

Between the black outlines of tall pines, waves of light slipped through — silent, steady, surreal. The trees didn’t move, but the sky did.

Just in Case Becomes Just in Time

The sky put on a spectacular show, and all I could do was absorb it in amazement.

Aurora Borealis is a phenomenon that feels otherworldly, and a camera cannot truly capture what my eyes experienced. This beauty is etched in my memory to be treasured until the next time.