Aurora & Star Trails over Australia

Aurora & Star Trails over Western Australia

Astrophotographer Trevor Dobson: "This is a 56-shot star trails image of last night's aurora display taken at Stirling Dam, 1.5 hours south of Perth in Western Australia. It is about 30 degrees latitude, a bit far from where the actual aurora activity was but still close enough to light up the whole sky. It was the first time witnessing an aurora after a few near misses. Though this particular night was perfectly calm, the moisture in the air was quite horrendous, soaking all of our camera equipment by night's end (which only lasted 4 hours)."

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

The Colors of the Aurora (U.S. National Park Service)
https://www.nps.gov/articles/-articles-aps-v8-i1-c9.htm

Image Credit: Trevor Dobson
Image Details: Nikon d5500, 13mm, ISO 500, f/4, 56 x 30 seconds
Location: Stirling Dam, Perth, Australia
Image Date: May 11, 2024
Release Date: May 12, 2024

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