Skywarden

Newest observations

Contact information

Skywarden,
Ursa Astronomical Association
Kopernikuksentie 1
00130 Helsinki
taivaanvahti(at)ursa.fi

Ursa Astronomical Association

Aurora rays - 16.8.2015 at 03.07 Espoo Observation number 41024

Visibility II / V

Jyri Kosonen

I went outside to see if the cell could even have northern lights in the two countries. Crushing the horizon and a few test shots didn’t produce a noticeable result, so I changed the lens and started practicing stealing light from Seulas, with poor results there as well. As the clock dawned a little over three and the camera stared at the eastern sky, I suddenly saw clear and fairly fast-moving northern lights in the north.

With a little flickering, I got the camera turned and grabbed a couple of images before the show dimmed very quickly with the naked eye (and almost also with the camera) invisible - this can be deduced from a triple image taken about 3 min after the first and second images (after a quick field lens change). and it is difficult to make a clear distinction between dawn and dawn.

As a spicy detail, the white thin horizontal stripes above the street lamps are most likely illuminating night clouds.

The technical quality of the first and second images does not end in dizziness, the images were taken with considerable flicker and remained considerably underexposed - moreover, the lens used is not one of the best night photography equipment. The strange Orange Galaxies shown in the triangle image are again lens reflections.



More similar observations
Additional information
  • Aurora brightness
    • Dim auroras
  • Observed aurora forms
    • Veil info

      Veil
      Veil is the most bland and very common form of aurora. It usually covers its homogeneous dim glow over a wide area of the sky at once. Most often, the veil is seen in the calmer and quiet phase of the night after the aurora maximum as a background for other forms. The veil can also occur alone and in that case it will be quite difficult to reliably identify as an aurora, especially at a observation site which has a lot of light pollution.

      A similar glow of light can also be caused by airborne moisture, smoke, or a very thin layer of clouds that reflects the light that hits them. However, clouds can also be used to identify veil, especially if the middle or upper cloud appears dark against a lighter background, then it is very likely to be aurora veil if the brightness of the background sky is not due to the rising or falling Moon or Sun. When photographing, very long exposure times usually reveal the green colour of the veil auroras.

      Veil and rays. Photo by Esa Palmi.
       

      Red aurora veil. Photo by Marko Mikkilä.

       

      Veil. Photo by Milla Myllymaa.

       

      Aurora veil that changes color from green at the lower edge through purple to blue at the top. Photo by Jaakko Hatanpää.

       

      Dim green veil. Photo by Jarmo Leskinen.

       

      Radial aurora band surrounded by veil. Photo by Jussi Alanenpää.

    • Rays info

      The raysare parallel to the lines of force of the magnetic field, i.e. quite vertical, usually less than one degree thick light streaks. The rays can occur alone or in connection with other shapes, mainly with arcs and bands. Short rays are usually brightest at the bottom but dim quickly. The longest rays, even extending almost from the horizon to the zenith, are usually uniformly bright and quite calm, and unlike the shorter rays, most often occur in groups of a few rays or alone. Rays, like bands, are a very typical form of aurora.

      Artificial light pillars, which are a halo phenomenon visible in ice mist, can sometimes be very similar to the rays of aurora. Confusion is possible especially when the lamps that cause the artificial light pillars are far away and not visible behind buildings or the forest. The nature of the phenomenon is clear at least from the photographs.

      Rays. Picture of Tom Eklund.

      Rays. Photo by Mika Puurula.

      Two beams rise from the aurora veil. Photo by Anssi Mäntylä.

      Two radial bands. Show Jani Lauanne.

      Radial band and veil. Photo by Jussi Alanenpää.

      Two rays. Photo by Aki Taavitsainen.

      It may be possible to confuse such rays with artificial light columns. Compare the image below. Picture of Tom Eklund.

      There is no aurora in this image, but all the light poles - including the wide and diffuse bar seen at the top left - are artificial light pillars born of ice mist. Photo by Sami Jumppanen.

      Aurora and artificial light pillars. All the radial shapes in the picture above are probably artificial light pillars that coincide appropriately with the aurora band. In the image below, the aurora band has shifted and does not overlap with the pillars produced by the orange bulbs. There is no orange in auroras. Photo by Katariina Roiha

Technical information

Olympus OM-D E-M5, adjustments Adobe Lightroom, exposure and lens information see EXIF

Send a comment

Comments are checked and moderated before publication If you want to contact the observer directly about possibilities to use these images, use the Media -form.

*

*

*
characters left

By sending in this comment I confirm, that I've read and understood the the observation system's privacy policy.