CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — The Northern Lights were visible from much further south than usual on Sunday and Monday, and one photographer got a view of the aurora borealis from some of West Virginia’s best stargazing spots.

Josh Blanton is commissioner of Ashland, Kentucky, but he said he regularly visits some places like Calhoun County, Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods and Seneca Rocks in West Virginia to take pictures of the stars.

On Sunday night, he visited the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area and captured these incredible photos of the Northern Lights between 1:45 and 2:30 a.m. early Monday morning on April 23.

  • The Northern Lights from Spruce Knob in West Virginia around 2 a.m. on April 23, 2023 (Courtesy: Josh Blanton)

Blanton told 12 News that he captured the photos using his Nikon D850 DSLR camera and used Lightroom to edit them. “Still trying to wrap my head around what I just witnessed,” he said in a Facebook post. “Maybe the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.”

He also said that he uses a telescope and an adaptor to connect it to his camera for deep space photography, though he didn’t use it for the photos above. In those cases, he uses several programs to stack and edit the photos to get the desired result.

For those who want to take their own photos of the stars but don’t have a fancy camera, Blanton recommends using your phone with a tripod and using the long exposure setting.