Southern Lights

The Aurora Australis or Southern Lights dances over the Great Lake of Tasmania's Central Plateau with individual beams or curtins visible. The phenomenon is sparked by electrically-charged electrons and protons accelerating down the Earth's magnetic field lines and colliding with neutral atoms in the upper atmosphere. The Central Plateau resides at an elevation of 1,036 m (3,398 feet) which provides clear sky's looking south to the pole. Green aurora tend to occur at altitudes from 100 – 250 km by oxygen atoms emitting light at 557.7 nano-metres. Red aurora are less common and form around 200 – 500 km from oxygen atoms emitting light at 630 nm. Tasmania, Australia

The shot was taken on a Canon EOS 6D at ISO 2500 using a Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC with a 30s exposure time at f/1.4 . If your shooting towards the celestial poles you can use a slightly longer exposure time than normal before you start to get star trails as the rotation of the stars is in a much tighter circle.

Rob Downie
Love Life, Love Photography

_{All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com}