The Polar Aurora ~ Northern Lights ~ Aurora Borealis Autumn Equinox

The Polar Aurora ~ Northern Lights ~ Aurora Borealis Autumn Equinox

The Polar Aurora ~ Northern Lights ~ Aurora Borealis
~ Autumn Equinox ~

Copyright © Sharon Mau 2009
All Rights Reserved

Featured Art 06 June 2009 AMERICA’s National Parks and WILDLIFE Habitat

Featured Art April 2009 _Inspired Art

I set up and took this long exposure, along with several hundred more, in a permafrost forest before and after midnight near North Pole Alaska. This amazing wide band of aurora activity shimmered and danced in the night sky from horizon to horizon. It was dazzling! This Polar Aurora activity covered virtually the entire state of Alaska for three consecutive days, faintly visible in the daylight as well.

Northern Lights ~ Autumn Equinox
Aurora Borealis
This image was taken over a peat bog near North Pole in the Tanana River Valley of Interior Alaska

From my collection:
Spirit of Delight ~ Autumn Colours Tanana River Valley Interior Alaska

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Astrophotos ~ Auroras

Shooting Date/Time 24 September 2007 00:57:15
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 13
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
ISO Speed 1600 (Much too high)
Camera Model Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
Lens EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Focal Length 50.0 mm
AF Mode Manual focusing
White Balance Mode Custom

Featured Editor’s Collection Autumn Landscapes ~ Featured Member’s Choice Fall Scenics October 2007

Source for Aurora information

Aurora is a luminous glow of the upper atmosphere, which is caused by energetic particles that enter the atmosphere from above.

On Earth, the energetic particles that make aurora come from the geospace environment, the magnetosphere. These energetic particles are mostly electrons, but protons also make aurora.

The electrons travel along magnetic field lines. The Earth’s magnetic field looks like that of a dipole magnet where the field lines are coming out and going into the Earth near the poles. The auroral electrons are thus guided to the high latitude atmosphere. As they penetrate into the upper atmosphere, the chance of colliding with an atom or molecule increases the deeper they go.

Once a collision takes place, the atom or molecule takes some of the energy of the energetic particle and stores it as internal energy while the electron goes on with a reduced speed. The process of storing energy in a molecule or atom is called “exciting” the atom. An excited atom or molecule can return to the non-excited state (ground state) by sending off a photon, i.e. by making light.” ~

Making Light

In Alaska, Canada, Norway, Finland or northern Russia, on a clear night, a greenish glow is often seen in the sky, known as the “Northern Lights.”
During magnetic storms, the glow may move southwards, and on occasion it can be seen in much of the US.

It often appears as a glow on the horizon, like the glow preceding sunrise, and has therefore become known among scientists as “aurora borealis” (“aurora” for short), Latin for “northern dawn.”

A similar phenomenon is also seen in southern polar regions. To an observer, an aurora is a fascinating spectacle, constantly moving and changing. It usually consists of many near-vertical greenish rays, forming long arcs and curtains, which stretch like ribbons across the sky, often from horizon to horizon.

The green light of the aurora has a precisely defined colour in the spectrum (“narrow spectral line”). Such precise colours are usually the signatures of the atoms which emit them

The green light of the aurora puzzled scientists for many years, since it fit no known element. It turned out to be produced by oxygen atoms, but under conditions that in our atmosphere only exist in the very rarefied upper levels. A red aurora, occasionally seen, arises at even greater heights and is also produced by electrons hitting oxygen.”

Currently with 2022 Views

The Polar Aurora ~ Northern Lights ~ Aurora Borealis Autumn Equinox belongs to the following groups:

Complex Simplicity of Art, ! 100% !, ! Inspired Art !, ! φThe Dreaming Treeφ !, ! ♥♥♥Love Is (Join us!)♥♥♥ !, "Real" Life Photography (2 per day), **A SPIRITUAL / PSYCHIC WALK**, *1:1 with the News (Images Only With a Story), Abstracts from Nature, Alaska ~ Beyond Your Dreams, All Around the Styles, All Countries ~ Wetlands, Ponds, Lakes and Rivers, All In, "Editing", All That is Nature (Photography Only), All the Colors of the Rainbow, All Things Poetic, Artistic, Philosophical, AMERICA's National Parks and WILDLIFE Habitat, Americas ~ Rural, Urban, Wild, Free, Art And Text, Art Inspired by Dreams, Backyard Photography (NO MACROS, DOGS, CATS, INSECTS, SKYSCAPES), Beautiful ~ 1 submission per 24 hours, Black with a hint of colour, Canon DSLR (One Image Per Day & A Canon Camera Must Be In The Description Before It's Accepted), Colors of the Wind, Colour and light, contrasting perceptions HELP WANTED NEED CO HOST TO RUN CHALLENGES APPLY IN THE FORUMS. THANKS, Core [C.O.R.E], Cover Shots, Creative, Talented, and Unknown, Descriptions, Designers United, Dimensions, DSLR Users Only - 1/24 - Camera & Lens In Description Please., Earth Keepers (How do YOU save the Earth?), Eerie Lighting, EMI - The Group, Everyday Life, Extreme Weather , FEATURED ONLY, Feminine Intent (LIMIT TWO IMAGES PER DAY), Fine Art of Landscape Photography, First Things, For the love of Canon - 2 Images per day with type of Canon camera used, Forests, Freedom In Words & Art, Freedom to Shine, Friends of Bangor and North Down Camera Club, Northern Ireland, Friends of RedBubble, Gateways, Graphic Editing 101, Green!, Images & Ideas, ImageWriting (2/24), In Another World .., in-between, Just Pure Nature., Landscape and Abstract Photography, Landscape Photography, Light In The Darkness, Live, Love, Dream: , Made By Nature - {2 a day} - {challenge theme only!}, MAJOR EVENT , MASTERS OF THE SCENIC, Mood & Ambience - Strictly Photos, Moody, Dark, Evocative (no nudes), Mountains and Mountain Light, Mysteries of the Common(2 per day), National Parks of the World & Great Parks Of The World, Nature's Wonders, Northern landscape, Of Noble Birth, PEACE, LOVE & TRANQUILITY, Personal Meaning Photography, Perspectives, Rural Around The Globe, Safe Haven, Scenery, Sensational Sun, Shadows & Reflections, Shameless Self-Promotion, Shapes & Patterns - Limit of 2 images per day, Shots in the Fog, Silhouette, Skyscapes, Speaking Photos (Storytelling) - 2 per day -, Spirit of the Native American, Spiritual Art, Technical Photography, That's Entertainment! (Fun & Recreation Photos), THE 500 TO 5000 VIEWINGS GROUP, The Addicted Photographer►2 Per Day◄, The Art of Intrigue 2/24, The Beauty of Nature (Nothing Man-Made), The beauty of poetry, The Graphic Room-Graphic and Digital Art, The Great Outdoors or Uninhabited lands of the World, The Healing Journey, THE SISTERHOOD, The true beauty, The Woman Photographer **7 Submissions a week only please**, The World, The World As We See It , or as we missed it., The X - Human Sentiment, Timelapse/Long Exposure Photography, Top Shelf Wildlife & Nature Art, Trees - 2 images per day with trees as the focal point, Tuesday Afternoon, Unconventional Artistry - 3 per day, United States, Vibrant and Vivid Color, Vibration in Art and Verse - VAVoom!, Western United States Artists and Photographers, Wild Nature Photography & Writing and Your Magic Place (PLACES only!!) Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters