Stunning Astrophoto: Auroral Explosion of Color

Yellow aurora under purple skies - an explosion of color! Credit: Brendan Alexander.

[/caption]

This gorgeous and unusual aurora display was captured by Brendan Alexander from the North Coast of Donegal, Ireland. “We were treated to an absolutely stunning aurora display on the morning of the 24th of April 2012,” Brendan wrote on our Flickr page. “Easily the best I have seen in my eventful four years of sky watching. The display started off strong at nightfall (22:00 UT) with intense and almost static rays. However shortly after magnetic midnight the aurora came to life, complete with waving curtains, shimmering rays, vivid colours and pulsating heart. A spellbinding and enrolling time was endured from dusk to dawn. A Stunning display to remember during the bright summer months ahead.”

Brendan used a Canon 1000D camera with a Sigma 20mm F1.8 lens. Exposure: 8 – 11 sec ISO 1600

Remove All Ads on Universe Today

Join our Patreon for as little as $3!

Get the ad-free experience for life

See more on Brendan’s Flickr page, Donegal Skies

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/