Northern Lights Over Northern Norway

January 29, 2018

Norwayaurora_20171211_114337 (3)

Photographer: Cindy Lorenzo 
Summary Authors: Cindy Lorenzo; Jim Foster

January 2018 Viewer's ChoiceThe breathtaking aurora curtain shown above was captured over northern Norway on December 11, 2017. Despite the fact that the photo was snapped at 05:33 p.m. the sky was nonetheless quite dark. Green-colored auroras typically occur between 60 mi (100 km) and 120 mi (200 km) above the Earth's surface, when charged particles coming from the Sun (solar wind) impact oxygen atoms, often after first glancing off nitrogen atoms. These collisions excite the oxygen, resulting in the green colors most commonly observed when viewing the northern lights and the southern lights (aurora australis) as well.  

Photo Details: Camera: SONY ILCE-6300; Aperture: ƒ/4.0; Focal Length (35mm): 15; Exposure Time: 10.000s; ISO equivalent: 3200; Software: Windows Photo Editor 6.3.9600.17418.