Intense Northern Lights show: Powerful solar flare triggers widespread auroras: May 15, 2005

By DAN ROBINSON

Editor/Photographer

From Dan: How the crime of copyright infringement took $1 million from me and shut down my operation.

In September of 2025, my work is generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I'm being forced to shut down my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field.

ABOVE: Amazing Aurora Borealis in Illinois early on Sunday (photos by Matt Robinson).

DWIGHT, ILLINOIS - While an anomalous weather pattern kept severe storms out of the Plains, the space weather pattern was just as active as ever on Saturday night. A strong solar flare triggered an extremely bright display of the Northern Lights (G5 geomagnetic storm with KP values at 9), and from our vantage point just south of Chicago, the show was spectacular - filling nearly the entire sky, from horizon to horizon and straight above. Matt Robinson (raleighskyline.com) took the digital photos on this page, while I tried as best possible to capture the event on video. Even with a wide-angle lens, it was impossible to get the whole show in one frame, but we still got some decent shots.