A stunning northern lights display was captured in 2026 by an amateur astronomer in the Beauce region, despite challenging weather conditions.
Northern lights appear in unexpected region
A northern lights display was observed in the sky on Saturday, October 10, 2026, in the Beauce region of France, a location far from the Arctic where such phenomena are rare.Amateur astronomer captures the event
Emmanuel Beaudoin, an amateur astronomer and collaborator of Ciel & espace, captured the display near the Levesville-la-Chenard mill. He is known for his work in documenting celestial events and collaborating with astronomy publications.Aurora alert triggered the observation
Beaudoin was alerted by his aurora monitoring app to a coronal mass ejection that arrived earlier and was stronger than expected. These ejections, caused by solar activity, can create auroras when they interact with Earth's magnetic field.Weather conditions challenged the observation
Despite unfavorable weather conditions, Beaudoin found a break in the Beauce region during the early part of the night and traveled to the mill. He noted that the mill was not lit up, which allowed him to capture the display without light pollution.Technical details of the image
The image was taken with a 3 second exposure at 2000 ISO using a Canon 6D and a 35 mm lens opened to f/2. This setup allowed him to capture the faint light of the aurora against the dark sky.
