Aurora Borealis photo collection

I'm really missing Alaska winter, especially the Aurora Borealis, so I thought I'd put together a collection of some of the photos I took of the Aurora Borealis over the two years we lived in Alaska.

1/7/15; Eagle River

1/7/15; Eagle River

1/7/15; Eagle River

03/17/15; Purple aurora in Eagle River 

2015; Eagle River

12/05/15; Knik River

12/20/15; Knik River

12/20/15; Knik River

12/20/15; Knik River

12/20/15; Palmer Hay Flats

8/28/16, Brooks Mountains

8//28/16; Brooks Mountains

12/5/16; Hatcher Pass

2/17/18; Tolovana Hot Springs

___________________________________________________

Interested in seeing the aurora? Here's how!

1) Find a town near the earth's poles:
The Aurora occurs when solar winds released from our sun hits the earth's atmosphere. The solar winds are caught by Earth's magnetic atmosphere and are directed to the magnetic poles where they are brought down to earth's surface. As the solar winds are brought closer to earth, the charged particles in the solar winds become more concentrated. The energy is released in the form of colored light, or aurora. So in order to see it, you need to be in a place near the north or south pole. The photo below shows the most common areas the aurora borealis (northern lights) are seen. Find a town within that ring! Better yet, find a dark area outside of town as light pollution will make Aurora viewing more difficult.

2) Go to that area in the fall, winter, or spring:

As you can see from the photo above, the Aurora occurs near the arctic circle. These areas have extremely long days in the summer time with the longest being the summer solstice on June 21. The long hours of daylight prevents the night sky from getting dark enough to see the Aurora. While living in Anchorage, the Aurora was generally not visible from May to August because the sky looked like dusk all night instead of getting dark. Between September and April, the night sky gets dark enough to see the Aurora. The closer to the winter solstice you are (December 21) the more hours of darkness you'll have, increasing your chance to see the Aurora. But keep in mind that mid-winter is very cold in these areas, which may prevent you from wanting to wait around outside.

3) Determine the area's dry season:

You can't see the Aurora if it's overcast! In Alaska, fall is the wet season and spring is the dry season with a transition over the winter. We saw more Aurora in the spring than the fall just because of the weather pattern. Places in Canada or Scandinavia may have a different weather pattern so try to go at a non-summer time when you'll have the least amount of rain.

4) The Wildcard:

This is the one part that cannot be controlled or planned in advance, this is where luck comes in... As I said above, Aurora is caused by solar winds coming from the sun. The sun is constantly fluctuating the amount of solar winds it releases. The more solar winds coming from the sun, the bigger and brighter the Aurora show will be. Sometimes the sun will release a large solar wind in Earth's direction, called a solar flare or coronal mass ejection. The rest of the time the sun just puts off it's normal amount of solar wind. It is extremely hard to predict when these solar flares will happen on the sun. But when they do happen, it takes about three days to reach the Earth. So currently our aurora prediction is only three days, which is difficult when planning a trip to see the Aurora. (See below for the prediction tools I used while in Alaska)

How to increase your chances? Well, if you look at the photo above, you'll see a narrow band that says 80-100%. This is the area that will show a small Aurora from the sun's daily solar winds. It won't be as pretty as the big storms but you will have a much higher chance of seeing something!

In my experience, during the two years we lived in Alaska, I noticed there were more solar storms in October and March. I don't know if there is a scientific reason for this or if it was just happenstance while we lived there but those seem to be high activity months.

5) Stay up late!

For some reason, the Aurora is most active between midnight and 4:00AM. Some hotels cater to Aurora viewing and have staff that stay up all night and wake guests when the Aurora comes out. Or you can pay a service that sends out text messages when the Aurora comes out (see below). To do it yourself, set your alarm before going to bed to wake you in the night. Or do it the old fashioned Alaska way: drink a bunch of water before going to bed! 

6) Prediction tools:

- The best Aurora forecast website is the University of Alaska Fairbanks Aurora Forecast. I especially like the picture depicting coverage. And they forecast a few days out. The weirdly named SoftServeNews keeps track of the aurora as well (plus they have a paid service where they will send a text to your phone when the lights come out - see below).

- Facebook has some community groups where people will post to the page when they see lights in their area.  I joined Aurora Borealis Notifications and Aurora Alerts.

- Webcams are a good way to check if the lights are going in real time. I always checked the KickAxCam in Wasilla for lights near Anchorage or AuroraNotify for lights near Fairbanks

- For apps, I have andriod and I used Aurora Alert and Aurora Forecast, Northern Eye Aurora Forecast is also a good one.

- Finally, you can pay for a service that will text your phone when the aurora comes out. So even if you're busy, or asleep, your phone will buzz when an actual person sees the lights come out. I subscribed to SoftServeNews. Go to their website to sign up. 

___________________________________________________

Interested in photographing the aurora? Here's how!

You need a tripod and a camera with manual settings to get the best photos. I've seen some photos taken on a cellphone but they won't be amazing. There are some photographers who will take photos for you (and of you) for a fee such as The Aurora Chasers.

If you want to take your own photos:

There are a lot of videos and tutorials about this so I'm just gonna give the quick and easy:

1) Attach your camera on a tripod and turn the settings to manual

2) Shutter speed (the S): Turn the shutter speed to the longest amount of time, usually 30 seconds. That is a good starting point but you may be able to bring it down to 13 second shutter speed.

3) Aperture (the A): Turn that to the largest number, usually around 22. 

4) ISO: Iso can be on auto. Or you can try different shots with different ISOs. Usually the lower the ISO, the better quality picture you'll get. But too low of an ISO will make your picture dark so play around with to find what you like. 

4) Take some practice shots in the dark to make sure the pictures are in focus, some cameras have a hard time autofocusing in the dark.

5) Be sure to bring plenty of warm clothing, blankets, and a thermos of hot drinks, enjoy!