Northern Lights Bucket List

July 15, 2012 Sparks Lake, Oregon (By Brad Goldpaint)

July 15, 2012 Sparks Lake, Oregon (By Brad Goldpaint)

NOTE: The page load time might be slow due to the HD size of the photos & videos.

This post is dedicated to Alex Maltosz-Cox, a 17-year old with terminal bone cancer, and his mom Bobbie. We saw your story and wanted to show our support & let you know that we are rooting for you.

We interrupt our typical science posts to bring you a story that really touched our hearts.

Alex Maltosz-Cox has been fighting an aggressive bone cancer called osteosarcoma since he was 15. Last week he was told he has two weeks to live. Read more about his courageous fight here.

Sun Moon TattooAlex has a bucket list that many people have been helping him check off almost all of it. Two of the items really jumped out to us and we wanted to share it on The Sun Today.

Alex got an amazing sun & moon tattoo for item #11 .

He told Frank Somerville of KTVU that “the tattoo symbolizes my relationship with my girlfriend, we are fans of game of thrones and there are two characters that call one another “My Sun and Stars” and “Moon of My Life”. We call each other that as well, so I chose to have that design.

Bucket list item #10 is “see the northern lights” and unfortunately, it’s still on the list.

Alex, we can’t send you to see the northern lights, but we can bring them to you! We wanted to put together a special gallery and ask our friends to share the best aurora photos & videos we could find. These images fill us with awe and joy, and we hope that you can feel this, too.

We hope that this gallery can virtually check off bucket list #10.

Click on an image below to view larger.

Auroral Tempest from InFocus Imagery Inc. on Vimeo.

Flight of the Aurora from InFocus Imagery Inc. on Vimeo.

Prelude to Solar Maximum from InFocus Imagery Inc. on Vimeo.

New England Nights from Aaron Priest on Vimeo.

Celestial Lights from Ole C. Salomonsen on Vimeo.

In The Land Of The Northern Lights from Ole C. Salomonsen on Vimeo.

Huelux from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

The Aurora from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Time-Lapse | Earth from Bruce W. Berry Jr on Vimeo.

The Earth as You’ve Never Seen it Before: Atmosphere, Airglow and Aurora from AJRCLIPS on Vimeo.

Time Lapse From Space – Literally. The Journey Home. from Fragile Oasis on Vimeo.

ICELANDIA – Time-lapse Visuals from 64° North from The Upthink Lab on Vimeo.

Aurora Borealis timelapse HD from Tor Even Mathisen on Vimeo.

Arctic Motion from Tor Even Mathisen on Vimeo.

Our favorite aurora photographers on Facebook

Seeing the northern lights is on our bucket list, too.

July 15, 2012 Sparks Lake, Oregon (By Brad Goldpaint)

July 15, 2012 Sparks Lake, Oregon (By Brad Goldpaint)

When we do, we will think of Alex. We hope by sharing this story that others will remember Alex Maltosz-Cox, and make their own bucket lists come true.

Thinking of you,
C. Alex Young & Linda Schenk
Founders, The Sun Today

UPDATE: Sadly, Alex passed away, but he did get to see the Nothern Lights in person. He will forever be in our hearts. 

Story courtesy of Aliyah Mohammed / Milpitas Post and Frank Somerville of KTVU