Milky way with aurora bonus

[Space Ranger]

Went out with a few others to take advantage of some clear skies and capture some shots of the Milky Way.....

"Road to the Stars" - single exposure using Canon 650D - 30sec at ISO6400 and f/3.5

We knew there was a chance of aurora and when it appeared it soon drew our attention away from the stars....

"Sea of Green" - single exposure using Canon 650D during a quieter part of the display - 40sec at ISO1600 and f/3.5

A most enjoyable evening under the stars :-)

[Mike73]

You are so lucky having the Aurora right on your doorstep! Does the Aurora actually give off that purple colour aswell or is that down to the cameras sensor or something?

Both are stunning pics!!

[fwm891]

From the various posts this year you are having a great time up there - hope it keeps going for you

[Space Ranger]

From the various posts this year you are having a great time up there - hope it keeps going for you

Thanks Francis - I hope so too

You are so lucky having the Aurora right on your doorstep! Does the Aurora actually give off that purple colour aswell or is that down to the cameras sensor or something?

Both are stunning pics!!

Being 58.5 deg north does have its advantages Mike. I posted some details about the visual colour of aurora here - http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/192144-colourful-aurora-from-cairngorm/#entry2010156. Basically the human eye detects green best, so it tends to be the most obvious colour seen in auroral displays. With longer exposures digital camera sensors capture all colours more efficiently than the eye can see them, so photos will tend to be more colourful than the naked eye view.

During the brighter part of the display (see Stewart Watt's photo of the same display - http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/193771-loch-calder-auroa/) I personally could see all of the structure captured by the camera clearly. The colour however was less vivid - the arc was noticeably green, but the colour of the rays was more a ghostly very pale blue. The naked eye has one big advantage over the camera - it can capture rapid changes and movement in the displays when they are at their most active.

[saturn5]

Great shots Gordon,more nights like this hopefully to come.

[Psychobilly]

Cracking shots ... looking forward to the pics that the Northen Crew will get this season...

Peter. ..

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