I was out with the 16" dob tonight and the Aurora was bright enough to read by.

It began as a diffuse glow and eventually separated into upper and lower bands.
Then the bands vanished and 'needles' of structure were detected.
They weren't wide enough to be considered 'beams', but they were definitely there... lots of them.
After the structure faded, i could definitely see a green color.. absolutely lovely.
I could kick myself for not bringing the camera.

Carol Lakomiak
Tomahawk WI