This content is restricted.
This Aurora Photo Is the Most Insane I've Ever Seen
By far, this is the most spectacular and insane photography of an aurora borealis I've ever seen. When I showed this in our virtual bullpen, the unanimous reaction was complete awe.
Auroras emit light because of the emission of photons by oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper atmosphere. Those atoms get excited—or ionized—by the collision with solar wind particles, which are accelerated by the Earth's magnetic field. As the atoms get excited or return to their normal state, they emit visible energy. When it is an oxygen atom, the light emitted is either green or brownish-red, depending on the energy level absorbed by the molecule. Blue happens when nitrogen gets ionized, and red when it returns to ground state.
It was photographed by Ole Christian Salomonsen over Tromsø, Norway, using long exposure. That's why you can see streaks from satellites and an airplane crossing the firmament.
Check the rest of Salomonsen's beautiful photos on his Flickr stream. [Ole Christian Salomonsen via APOD]
Send an email to Jesus Diaz, the author of this post, at jesus@gizmodo.com.
The paragraph explaining what happens, someone at School asked the teacher what the 'Northernly Lights' are, I wish I explained it to them exactly how it was written there. Too late now, I'm not doing Geography anymore, it was only last Thursday that she asked, and that I left Geography. ReplyCome to AK. This is crap compared to watching a 20km wide ribbon dace across the sky over your head. Replymat promoted this comment@Eric Swenson: I lived around Fairbanks for 17 years and never saw anything close to this. Got close though. [picasaweb.google.com] Replymat promoted this commentI grew up in AK. I went to Northern Lights Elementary school. I saw stuff like this every year. I NEVER saw one as cool as this. I wish I knew about long exposure when I was six years old. ReplyFreaking awesome. Looks like the Destiny's FTL.[waving geek flag high] Reply
Wade McGillis promoted this commentWants me a wallpaper size, wallpaper size, wallpaper size..
"Original Resolution: 515 x 800"
NOOOOOOOOOOO. Reply@Mailz: Somewhere... out there... is a full resolution file. Find it we must. ReplyCalrekabooki promoted this commentReply
Ahhh! Glimmers of understanding finally dawn! All that fuss over the 'World's Softest Tissue' is totally warranted!@FrankenPC: it probably revovled around two words. "holy" and "shit"also imho you're going way too far back...I think this would have been as impressive to people some 50 to 100 years ago as it would have been to cave men. I say that simply because our capabilities to produce amazing visual affects (as well as the general acceptance that most everything can be broken down scientifically) is such a recent development. Reply
You know now that I look at this more closely I'm starting to see a dress. At the top of the aurora there is the hourglass shape of a womens torso and the bottom part is the train of the dress. I love it when I spot unrelated things. Reply@BergenCountyJC is rocking in the free world: The sky stole that idea from Apple. ReplyWade McGillis promoted this commentThe picture is great. Though I recall much more spectacular Aurora Borealis scenery in my small hometown in Greenland. I remember almost all the sky covered in incredible northern light. It is especially beautiful/scary when the sky is mostly fire-red and crystal blue. ReplyJesus Diaz promoted this comment@Jesus Diaz: I can recommend you to see the northern lights with your own eyes. It is always in motion and shifting colors. ReplyI can see a Syfy movie coming up. Attach of the Aurora Borealis. Replyjunior ghoul promoted this commentThe northern lights are a direct result from coronal mass ejections from the sun actually skewing the polarity of the earths magnetic fields.The solar storm of 1859 was so immense it altered the magnetic fields to the extend that the northern lights were said to have been seen as low as Europe. This event was also said to have knocked out major electronic devices all over the planet.
A strong enough storm will likely cause a polar switch. Which, is dangerously close to a Cosmic Kansas City Shuffle.
holy holes batman promoted this comment@typica1cat: "Which, is dangerously close to a Cosmic Kansas City Shuffle. "Is that anything like the Melbourne shuffle? Reply
@typica1cat: What major electronic devices did they have back in 1859? Except for time machines of course... ReplyAurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen? Reply@holy holes batman: Yes, and you call them steamed hams despite the fact they are obviously grilled. ReplyI'm trying to decide between comparing it to the Snow Leopard default desktop, saying it looks shopped, or the obligitory "it's full of stars" reference.Would any of those get me banned?
The detail in the stars is amazing. FWIW, his setup for this shot was:
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon EF 16-35 Mark II @ f/2.8, ISO2500, 7sec. ReplyCalrekabooki promoted this comment@holy holes batman: I just pooped a little because of the violent laugh I tried to suppress when I saw this. Reply
Monday, December 27, 2010
This Aurora Photo Is the Most Insane I've Ever Seen --- Gizmodo
![[images.pictureshunt.com]](http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/s/sully_monsters_inc-5028.jpg){kind=link}
via gizmodo.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment