Photographing the Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis - Cresswell, Northumberland, UK - 22/1/2012 by Lee Jennings

A few people have asked me how to photograph the Aurora. I thought I'd write a little blog post about it. I have never done it myself, but I think the process is pretty simple. I've been researching the best ways to go about it because I hope that one day I'll be able to see & photograph this phenomenon myself. All you need is patience, time, crisp clear skies & a long exposure enabled camera. This post is written mainly for UK spotters. Before I start, it is important that you know that the aurora is very, very unpredictable & it is extremely rare in the UK.

So, firstly, you need to check forecasts. Now I know that sounds silly, but with a little bit of research you can find out the likelihood of a CME impact. Without a CME impact, there may not be Aurora strong enough to reach you should you live further south than Northern Scotland.

CMEs, or Coronal Mass Ejections, are the reason behind the Aurora Borealis. In short, the sun releases 'flares' which are made up of solar wind. This wind then travels the 93 million or so miles towards earth (but not exclusively, of course) to then clash with our Earth's magnetic field. The solar wind then reacts with the magnetic field, produced the stunning displays of Aurora seen in the very north or south of the earth. Occasionally, it is possible to see the aurora in the UK. The intensity of the storm can be measured using the K-index. The higher the KP number, the more chance you'll have of seeing Aurora. For example, I am currently near Manchester & I need a KP of around 8 or 9 for the lights to be visible for me. For more information on finding your KP number & finding out about the K-index, check out the links at the end of this post. 

So, when you find that the northern lights might make an appearance in your area, you need to find a spot, away from light pollution, with a clear view of the horizon, facing north. You may find as the storm starts, you will be confined to staring at the northern horizon & you may not even see anything at first. But as the storm gets stronger, you may see full displays overhead. This depends on where you are & the intensity of the storm. As soon as you find the Aurora, get your camera set up. You need a good sturdy tripod & a remote control (or you can use the timer) to avoid shake.

DSLR users: A wide angle lens is best for this, as is a wide aperture. The wider the aperture, the more light your camera will let in. I personally stop down to around f3.5 to f5.6 for star photographs. Take a few test shots of around 1-2 seconds to check composition & focus, make the necessary adjustments & then extend your exposure time to around 10-15 seconds. Your ISO setting should be around 400-1000, depending on how bright your aurora is. If you find that your shots are coming out dark, try extending the time or stepping up the ISO. If they come out too light, do the opposite. Experiment until you find the perfect exposure & snap away.

Point & shoot users: depending on the specifications of your compact camera, while not impossible, it may be more difficult to photograph with a point & shoot. If you can, use the manual controls & play around with the settings before you even set foot outside so that you can be ready. You need a camera capable of ISO400-800, long exposures & digital zoom. Follow the steps above & you may be surprised at what you come out with. And don't forget your tripod!

It is hard for anyone to tell when the northern lights will arrive because it is such a hit & miss event. The best way to go about it is to follow & few people on twitter (my personal recommendations would be @VirtualAstro & @mark_humpage) because they will be able to advise you on what's happening.

Enjoy your hunt for the northern lights. I'm sure it's a wonderful & unforgettable experience!

Links -

K-index & KP numbers

http://spaceweather.com/glossary/kp.html

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/info/kp-aurora.html

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Aurora/globeNE.html

Aurora forecasts & current activity

http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/

http://www.softservenews.com/Aurora.htm

General information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)
http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/aurora/index.html

Orion Nebula 14/01/2012

Orion Nebula 14/01/2012, originally uploaded by purpleface.


The weather over the past few days has been amazing. Lovely crisp blue skies, amazing sunsets & wonderfully clear night skies. And I've been using this to my advantage, taking as many photos of the stars as I can.
I had the idea to photograph the Orion Nebula (see above) for a few nights but I was waiting for the sky to become fully clear. I first photographed the nebula when the sky was hazy & the full moon was casting its glow across most of the sky. The photograph I got on that night was amazing (to me, it was amazing, obviously it's not amazing to those with epic telescopes & satellites deep in space ;p) & it surprised me because I never expected to be able to capture a photograph like this. I thought it was reserved for people with powerful telescopes! 


I made a pact with myself that I would go out there again when the moon wasn't due to rise until 3am & when there was less haze around. 


That night happened a few days later. It was -2 & there was frost on the ground so I wrapped up extra warm & took the camera out to cool (tell me if I'm wrong but letting the sensor cool on your camera helps reduce noise...I think). After a little while I started to photograph the nebula using various different settings. Now, you all know that the earth spins, this is what gives us night & day. Therefore, if you set your camera up to expose for 30 seconds, you're going to get light trails instead of a still (for want of a better word) image. As my camera ISO goes up to 12000, I stepped it right up & I exposed for 3.2 seconds. For me, this is the best way to be able to capture a still shot without using a tracking device. I did, however, find that ISO 12000 was too noisy so I stepped it down to 5000. And that seemed to do the trick. I imported the shot into Lightroom, tweaked around with some settings & this is what I came out with. 


I used a Canon 7D with a 90-300mm lens.


I'm pretty happy with it. Next step is to get a new mirror for the telescope (we accidentally knocked it over & the mirror smashed inside) & an adapter for my DSLR. Then we'll be away! Hope you enjoyed this post, thanks for reading. If you have any questions you can either leave them in the comments box or you can join me on twitter (tweeting as @_purpleface) or facebook (facebook.com/purplefacephotography).

Jupiter, Moon & ISS - 2/1/2012

Jupiter, Moon & ISS - 2/1/2012, originally uploaded by purpleface.

I love photographing the ISS. Watching it float over the earth, knowing that it is travelling at over 17000 miles an hour while looking as though it is travelling the same speed as your average aeroplane is pretty amazing.

I've been photographing the ISS for just under a year now, my first ever shot was in March 2011. It was a lovely experience, standing in my back garden, waiting for it to pass over. I'd get my Dad out to look & my partner, Chris, would also come & look out for it with us. It brought us together, looking up into the sky not really knowing where to look first. And then, it'd appear & it was a fight to get my camera in the right position, to get the tripod to stay still. I fumbled my way through the first 30 seconds of the pass, but eventually I got it, a purple tinged sky with the bright streak of the ISS through it. I was proud.



I always get excited when the sky clears & my twitter timeline is rife with ISS pass times. I've made a lot of online friends over the months I've been photographing the ISS & I hope that I'll make many more. :)