Christine Desouza managed to capture Hermann the German with the northern lights as backdrop. Desouza took the photo at 2 a.m. Saturday morning from Harman Park, but said it took a while to get the right photo.

Desouza said around 11 p.m. Friday she was driving along County Road 27 trying to see the northern lights.

“I was so excited,” she said. “I had never seen them before.”

Unfortunately, she was having difficulty seeing the lights out in the country. She returned home around midnight, frustrated at missing the lights, but then a friend sent her a photo taken in town on a cellphone camera.

Kyle Krenz and his son Joey traveled to Fort Ridgley late Friday night to capture photos of the northern lights. Joey stands in silhouetted against a colorful night sky. Photo curtesy of Kyle Krenz

Desouza, equipped with a new model cell camera, decided to try again by photographing Hermann the German. The first photo she took turned out the best. She tried getting closer to the Hermann Monument, but the ambient light from the monument block most of the northern lights. Standing at a distance in Harman Park offered the detail.

“It was definitely an event that we could see them in town,” Desouza said.

Dozens of other photographers were able to capture the northern lights on Saturday and Sunday. Kyle Krenz of New Ulm took several photo of the lights from Fort Ridgely State Park Friday evening, away from the ambient light of nearby towns. Krenz was able to photograph his son Joey silhouetted against the northern lights.

Though most of his photos were taken out in the country, Krenz said he too was able to capture aurora from the south side of New Ulm around midnight on Saturday.

The northern lights were caused by the sun ejecting particles into Earth’s atmosphere. These particles interact with gases in the atmosphere, creating the colorful auroras.