Starship Asterisk*

September's Aurora

Explanation: September's equinox arrives today at 0905 UT. As the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading south, spring begins in the southern hemisphere and autumn in the north. And though the seasonal connection is still puzzling, both spring and autumn bring an increase in geomagnetic storms. So as northern nights grow longer, the equinox also heralds the arrival of a good season for viewing aurora. Recorded earlier this month, these curtains of September's shimmering green light sprawl across a gorgeous night skyscape. In the foreground lies Hidden Lake Territorial Park near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Calm water reflects the aurora, with bright star trails peering through the mesmerizing sky glow. Of course, shining at altitudes of 100 kilometers or so, planet Earth's auroras are visible from space.

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This is beautiful, stunning.
Are there video clips of Aurora that show in real time how the eye would see the colors in a dark location?
I realize long camera exposure pick the colors up much more.

For people like me who live in Michigan, I'd love to see Aurora, I've viewed then just twice in my life many years ago.

The Aurora are always lovely to look at!

When I was a kid growing up in North Dakota, we would quite often see Northern Lights as a faint glow on the northern horizon. Very occasionally, they would appear overhead as fleeting wisps of light at high altitude.

I wish I could see one for myself! They are very beautiful and brilliant.

orin stepanek wrote:The Aurora are always lovely to look at!

I agree. Orin, are you saying that you see the Aurora sometimes at your location? If so, have you ever tried to take any photos?

Today's APOD is a very striking artistic composition. It would be nice to know something about the photographic techniques used to capture images like this; the exposure time and type of camera and lens settings, etc.

starstruck wrote:

orin stepanek wrote:The Aurora are always lovely to look at!

I agree. Orin, are you saying that you see the Aurora sometimes at your location? If so, have you ever tried to take any photos?

Today's APOD is a very striking artistic composition. It would be nice to know something about the photographic techniques used to capture images like this; the exposure time and type of camera and lens settings, etc.

here in Nebraska we do get to see one once in a while but nothing like today's APOD! My little Cannon is good for small jobs but it doesn't have enough oomph do do anything like Auroras! There was a thread a while back that showed some Auroras taken from Blair Nebraska! http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7436
http://www.extremeinstability.com/05-5-15-.htm

Simply beautiful!

I was also impressed with the time lapse video imagery from the ISS as it passed overhead, via the last link in the description.

-Noel

@ Ann {without an 'e'] Hey, Ann==where is your cheery and informative post to this APOD? Thanx from Ann's #2 admirer.

Today's APOD is a very striking artistic composition. It would be nice to know something about the photographic techniques used to capture images like this; the exposure time and type of camera and lens settings, etc.

A good article on how to photograph aurora:

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/ ... es/aurora/

Absolutely stunning.

I also liked the 2 images with the fox that were in a set of images dated September 13, 2011 that were brought up through the "these curtains" link.

YES!! I liked those, too.

This is a splendid APOD; I like everything about it -- the image, the text, and every single link. Definitely A+++++++ material!

I recommend spending some time looking at the Yellowknife area in Google maps- -it's like nothing I've ever seen.
Places like that make me realize how frighteningly big the world is.