Brilliant Lights of the Aurora
Like a lot of kids, I was always fascinated by space. My parents would buy me books and I would devour them. I didn’t turned out be an astronomer nor did I turn out to be someone who is very knowledgeable on the subject. However, this is still something I have remained interested in. I always wanted to own a telescope but where I live, it was never practical to own one since the skies are more often than not cloudy. While you might get the occasional clear skies, it doesn’t happen enough that will make a purchase of a telescope to be worth it.
Whenever I would read about significant celestial events, I would end up just sighing and wishing that I would be able to see it. However, for once, I got lucky, very lucky. Turns out that there was very strong solar activity that time and there was a projected aurora that evening. Incredibly enough, the skies were clear. The last time there was an aurora visible, most people were asleep and we would only know after the fact. It seems that this time would be different. Solar activity was supposed to be one of the most intense in a decades and there is a strong possibility of aurora.
Colorful Lights of the Aurora
My friends and I went to a remote location away from the lights and hopefully the aurora would be powerful enough to be seen. Turns out we didn’t need to travel far since people from town were able to see it. However, it is still best observed from a location away from any light pollution. So what about the aurora display? It was an incredible show. I initially thought that there might be some clouds in the sky but it turned out that it was actually the aurora. Maybe it was just my eyes but I didn’t think that the colors were that vivid when I look at it but phones and cameras can see all the detail. Though sometimes, colors can be clearly seen with the naked eye, the best views can be seen by cameras.
Annoyingly, I didn’t have a tripod and I was struggling with the camera and long exposure. My photo was getting incredible photos even though I was just holding the phone, while my large expensive camera wasn’t able to. Ultimately, my best photos were taken by the phone. These photos were taken by my camera so don’t complain. I did warn you. The light show lasted all evening and was still going on when we head back home in the morning. I think it would have been nice to see the lights move but I think I would need a proper setup for that. Maybe time lapse would do the trick.
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