Aurora over the Firth of Clyde

[pgk]

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M9 35/1.4, 30s at 1.4

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[stuny]

Gorgeous!

[fotografr]

Well done. What I've noticed here is that the Aurora is much more vivid in a long exposure photograph than it is when viewed with the naked eye. Have you observed the same?

[pedaes]

51 minutes ago, fotografr said:

when viewed with the naked eye

In my albeit limited experience, the colours are not visible to the naked eye. They appear as shades of bright grey. Both film emulsion and digital sensors reveal the colours. "Smart' 'phone cameras can be used to view colours on the screen in real time.

[pgk]

Well, this was the first time we had seen the Aurora and it was clearly visible, in all its colours, to the naked eye. The camera condenses time and exagerates the effect for sure, but not as much as might be thought. Having tried it, to feel more natural (ie as experienced), images need to be adjusted as if underexposed by about 2 stops, but this yields a dark, and therefore strange, albeit relatively realistic image.

[stuny]

When I was stationed in North Dakota we'd see the aurora at times in the winter, and the colors were always quite vivid.  And since the aurora is frequently in motion, a long exposure enhances the color.

[Aram Langhans]

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Great shot.  I am unfortunately stuck in Southern California for the next month and am missing the show this time around.  Way too far south, too much ambient light.  I will live this one vicariously through others until I get back home in November.  I was able to see a lesser Aurora performance last Monday when we were in the Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California, but it was a minor show.  I'll post a few.

And, yes, the colors are not as visible to the naked eye as the cone cells do not respond to low light levels.  And the center vision at night is dominated by cone cells, so things will also be less bright as you have fewer rod cells in your central vision.  Averted vision will often pick up more light.  Why astronomers often look with averted vision through their telescopes, or so I am told by my astro friends.  I would tell my students that if you are walking at night on a dark country road and you think you see something off to the side, and turn and look directly at it and do not see it, that does not mean it is not there.

Edited October 12, 2024 by Aram Langhans

[wlaidlaw]

Even though I was born and brought up about 50 miles north east of Aberdeen, Scotland, I never remember seeing the Aurora as a child, unlike the song "The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SNODgG0Fd4 . I suspect this is because for the north east of Scotland, grey overcast skies were the norm. 

Wilson