Aurora Dome over Labrador

Aurora Dome over Labrador

Astrophotographer Adam Woodworth: "During the intense aurora on October 10, 2024, my buddy Steve Sheppard and I experienced the most amazing display of aurora that either of us had ever seen. For most of the night the aurora was clearly visible in the sky but still faint enough that you could barely make out some green color with the naked eye. But at one point the sky exploded with bright colors and we were under a horizon to horizon 360 degree dome of aurora for a few minutes. It was so bright it lit up the ground, and we could clearly see color all across the sky . . ."

Image Details: Nikon Z 6 with Sigma 14mm f/1.8 lens @ f/1.8, ISO 1250, 2 seconds for all exposures in this panorama

Labrador is a geographic region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere—the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth.

Earth auroras have different names depending on which pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.

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

Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Woodworth

Adam's website: https://www.adamwoodworth.com
Image Date: Oct. 10, 2024
Release Date: Nov. 6, 2024

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