No Aurora but the Milky Way

March 28, 2015 - Alaska Geo. Inst. forecasts a Kp index of 5 for the Aurora.  Kp 5 means - if the Aurora occurs you should be able to see it low on the horizon in Massachusetts.  Sounds awesome so we decide against going for the CamNats (Massachusetts Camera Naturalists) and head to Maine.  Acadia is always a great spot so we head to the loop road. WRONG most of the roads are closed.  A nice cop gives us direction on how to get to Sand Beach - so it is about midnight and we find our way to the parking lot.  Poor visibility forces us out of there and heading further towards Otter Cliffs.  The road is closed at the turnoff to Otter Cliff road. We pull over into a small clearing at one of the entrances to a parking lot and wait for the Aurora - nothing.  Well the Milky Way rises over the cliffs so we wait.  3:15 and the Milky Way shows its full arc.  It is cold, the wind does not help. I mounted the Rokinon 14mm on the Sony A7R to get this image.  The foreground trees were light painted during the exposure.Please click on the image for a larger presentation. A subsequent 7 image pano yielded the arc but the 14mm lend distortion is apparent.