Lake Tahoe from 30,000 Feet

Taken from a Southwest Air 737, this view looks north across the lake. The mountain in the lower right corner is Heavenly Valley Ski Resort. Emerald Bay is in the lower left corner of the lake.

Print No. A99-40-5

Red Aurora over Lake Tahoe

Just past midnight on October 30, 2003, the Earth was in a slight lull between two peaks of a geomagnetic storm. The storm resulted from a solar flare, a burst of radiation from the Sun a couple days earlier. Solar flares are not uncommon, though they usually aren't directed at Earth. Ones that are Earth-directed travel along the Earth's magnetic field lines and impact the atmosphere, resulting in auroral displays. It takes a particularly intense geomagnetic storm, coupled with a favorable positioning of the magnetic field, to produce auroras this far south. During the taking of this 23 minute exposure, only very faint gray vertical beams could be seen with the naked eye. But the time-exposure allowed the red color of the aurora to burn into the film (the yellow-green glow is from the lights of Reno, Nevada). The time-exposure also shows the movement of the stars around the North Star as a result of the Earth's rotation.

Print No. A03-40-3

Fall Colors at Emerald Bay

Taken during the day of October 30, 2003, on the last day before snow covered the ground here, this view is looking northeast, across Emerald Bay, with the main lake in the distance. At lakeside are a mix of green conifers and golden aspens. Emerald Bay was formed by a Pleistocene-age glacier descending from the Crystal Range to the west, and was designated a national natural landmark in 1969 for the glacier-carved granitic rocks surrounding the bay. The partial terminal moraine left behind by the glacier nearly closed off the bay from the lake.

Print No. A03-41-3

Fannette Island and Granitic Outcrop

Looking southeast, across some of the granitic outcrops on the slopes above Emerald Bay, Fannette Island is the only significant island in Lake Tahoe. On the island lies the remnants of a stone teahouse built in 1928 by philanthropist Lora Knight. On the adjacent shoreline, she also built Vikingsholm, a 38-room replica of an 800 A.D. Scandanavian castle.

Print No. A03-41-9