Butler’s Northern Lights

“I had just finished my sketch of the cliff when (about a quarter to ten) this wonderful display suddenly appeared, flooding the heavens with light. Vertical shafts soon rose near the horizon in almost every direction and reached to the zenith, where they united in complicated weaving. The view northward over the cliff was particularly fine. Arches appeared from which additional shafts ascended. The colors varied from pale green to rose. The intense illumination lasted for about 20 minutes. I was most fortunate in being in such an excellent position for observation and in having my sketching materials with me; also having my foreground already completed. I was working on dark grey paper with black and white, with no light but that of the moon and the aurora itself. While this enabled me to record the values—lights and shades—for colors I had to rely on formulas, as when painting the eclipse.”