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Aurora Borealis
The Aurora Borealis over Kent, England on May 10th 2024. A rare event this far south at 51 degrees latitude, where it takes on a more pink appearance in contrast to the greens you see nearer the Arctic Circle. Greens appear due to charged particles from the sun interacting with oxygen. Red is from oxygen in the upper atmosphere. Blues and purples are due to the interaction of nitrogen.
The colours were clearly visible with the naked eye and this was one of my most amazing experiences under the night sky.
Camera: Canon EOS Ra. Exposure: 2.9s. ISO: 1600. Aperture: f/2.8. Focal length: 15mm
Image below used the same settings except ISO at 1250. It was nominated as a ‘Top Pick’ on the Astrobin site.
This image below was shot with a much longer 15 second exposure (rather than 2.9s), so it is less defined than the ones above, but a lot more light hit the sensor as a result. You can see s shapes that look like clouds, but are concentrations in the aurora. ISO: 1600 f/2.8
The image below won a ‘Top Pick’ award on the Astrobin website. I was happiest with this one because it shows the colour range running across the field of view.
The event on May 10th, 2024 was declared a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. But another very bright aurora appeared in the skies just a few months later on October 10th. I could see it easily in light polluted south London whilst out walking the dog. This isn’t a great astrophoto below - just a snap with my iPhone to show how easily it could be picked up in Bortle 9 streets.
