Christchurch Aurora - Jun 29 2013

[malclocke]

Managed to get my first aurora shots on Saturday. Sub zero temperatures up in the Port Hills of Christchurch, but well worth the trip, was a fantastic display.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2854/9174191248_3cdb8c2943_z.jpg

Unfortunately my photography quiver only currently consists of a Canon 550D and a plastic fantastic 50mm so I was having to move the camera around a lot as I couldn't fit the whole display in the frame.

A few more are up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/malclocke/sets/72157634401727159/ along with a dodgy timelapse at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTghxwqxPl4

[malclocke]

Hmm ... image showed inline when I previewed the post, but not when I posted it. Try again.

[h0ughy]

worth the wait

[gregbradley]

Fantastic.

Greg.

[iceman]

Amazing images!

[Ross G]

Great captures Malc.

Amazing colours!


Ross.

[rogerg]

Wow, what a sight!

Filling the FOV of the 50mm so easily.

[malclocke]

Thanks for your kind words everybody.

I've only seen two aurora so far, having only been living in Christchurch for 7 years and only getting back into astronomy in the last year. This was definitely quite a lot brighter than the previous display I saw on 15th July 2012.

I worked out on the night that the ideal fov would have been about 60 - 70 degrees to capture most of what was visible, but it probably spread out wider than what I could pick up with the naked eye.

With the 50mm on my APS-C camera I work out I get around 30 degrees. I'll keep saving my pocket money and maybe I'll have a wider lens for the next round :)

[Paul Haese]

Very nice shot. The curtains are well shown.