PICTURES OF AURORA BOREALIS

The rare sight of the Northern Lights is always one to thrill, especially as they are generally only seen around the time of each `solar maximum, an event that occurs every eleven years or more. The last solar maximum was in the winter of 2013/2014 and, arriving late, it was smaller than normal. Numerous aurora alerts were issued, but very little was seen in the UK. 

And then, on the evening of 27th February 2014, I was lucky enough to view a fine auroral display from my back garden in Newton Stewart, Galloway:

Canon EOS 400D: ISO 800, f7.1, 30 second exposure. 

Canon EOS 400D: ISO 800, f7.1, 20 second exposure. 

I was also lucky enough to observe the aurora in Iceland a few years ago (a bit blurred, as these pics were hand-held efforts):

Canon EOS 400D: ISO 1600, f4.5, 5 second exposure. 

Canon EOS 400D: ISO 1600, f5.6, 3.2 second exposure.

Canon EOS 400D: ISO 1600, f4, 5 second exposure.