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The northern lights are spectacular this year, but the strongest are still to come

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The northern lights have hit headlines lately as solar flares have sent charged plasma hurtling through space at break-neck speeds. We’ve had reports of aurora being visible at seriously low latitudes, including Luxembourg. There’s a reason for this, and any nighttime photographers need to know what’s going on.

I’ve written a book about the northern lights. It’s a huge passion of mine and I’ve made it my mission to educate myself on nature’s greatest light show as much as I possibly can. I was lucky enough to have spent the past winter travelling throughout the Arctic in my van. I witnessed the aurora on an almost nightly basis and enhanced my knowledge through research and observation. While I love to dive into the science and the technicalities, I’ll spare you those details in favour of the more exciting stuff.

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Even New Yorkers could see the northern lights due to the recent solar storm

Aurora borealis or northern light is usually visible in the areas close to the center of the Arctic Circle. However, due to the recent solar storm, you may be able to see it as far south as New York! The geomagnetic storm has pushed the aurora closer to the south, so you don’t have to travel as far to the north to capture it in your photos.

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Canadian photographer captures incredible aurora photographs created by intense solar storms

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A series of particularly intense solar storms have helped create extremely vivid aurora borealis (northern lights) this past week. Astrophotographers across the upper regions of the Northern hemisphere have gone out to capture the incredible phenomena with the lights being visible much further south than is usual due to the greater intensity of the solar storms.

Saskatchewan based Photographer Jenny Hagan took advantage of the situation and created these beautiful images. She describes to DIYP what it was like to witness and photograph such an event.

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Photographer captures once-in-a-lifetime shot of Comet Neowise, the aurora borealis, and Milky Way

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The Canadian Rockies have always offered breathtaking sights, but take this dramatic mountain setting and pair it with a rare comet that won’t be visible for another 6,800 years and you’ve got the recipe for an awe-inspiring photo opportunity – one that photographers only dream of.

For an Australian mechanical engineer turned award-winning travel and landscape photographer, this dream became a reality in July 2020.

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2021 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year winners reveal the otherworldly beauty of Aurorae

I’m pretty sure that capturing the Northern lights is on every landscape photographer’s bucket list. Well, it sure is on mine. If you’re looking for inspiration and a reason to finally travel and see the Aurora Borealis in person, the travel photography blog Capture the Atlas has a real treat! The winners of the annual Northern Lights Photographer of the Year contest have just been announced, and we share the top images with you.

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Iceland hotel wants your Aurora photos in exchange for a free month’s stay

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Aurora Borealis is “the holy grail” for many landscape photographers. If you’re one of them, a hotel in Iceland has a unique offer that you may want to apply for. They will give you a month of room and board and cover your travel expenses. You don’t need to pay with money, but with your photos and videos of the Northern lights.

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Astrophotographer of the Year shares magnificent 2021 shortlists

If you love astrophotography, here’s a real treat. Royal Observatory Greenwich has just announced the magnificent shortlisted images of its 2021 Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest. The photos were taken all over the globe, and even beyond: there’s even a photo of the sunset on Mars. So without further ado, let’s dive in and enjoy this gorgeous selection of images.

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Feast your eyes on these stunning Aurora images from Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2020

Travel photography blog Capture the Atlas has published a stunning collection of Aurora images. The annual Northern Lights Photographer of the Year collection features 25 mesmerizing photos of the Northern Lights, and today we share some of them with you.

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Here is my learning curve shooting the aurora; my tip: persistence pays

Two years after I received my first camera, I decided it was time to learn how to capture the night sky. One evening in December, I headed out with a headlamp, my trusted Canon 6D, a wide-angle lens, and a tripod. To make a long story short, I returned home with nothing I could use. My compositions were off; every shot was under-exposed and out of focus. Talk about a steep learning curve!

The next time I headed out, I had learned a few things: Check the histogram after each shot; it is wise to shoot exposures at a few seconds with maximum iso to nail the comp. When I had a composition I could live with, I changed the settings to something more ‘normal.’ During the daytime, I had found out where the lens had its optimal setting for having most of the scene in proper focus. I also learned that using autofocus in the dark yields a terribly frustrating experience.

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The dunes are a newly discovered kind of aurora – and we have unseen photos

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The Northern Lights are on many people’s bucket lists. The celestial phenomenon occurs in the upper levels of our atmosphere. We’ve long sought explanations for these beautiful lights, and extensive research has come up with many answers. We thought we had it all covered until something strange happened. Recently, in Finland, a scientist discovered a new type of Aurora.

Each Aurora we see has a classification, it makes it easier to describe. For example,  these ripples and waves of light got a cool-sounding label like ‘corona’, which describes an Aurora straight above us. The one that appears as if it’s falling straight down. This new observation, labelled ‘dunes,’ was discovered by citizen-scientist Pirjo Koski and her team in Finland.

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