Recent solar activity prompted Calgary photographer Matt Melnick to take pictures of the night sky.
“The sun is extremely active now. Huge sunspots are appearing in the field of view,” Melnik explained. “Just this morning, one of these sunspots caused an ex-flare (solar flare) that caused a full CME (coronal mass ejection) halo… We could have a massive solar storm as early as November 11th to 12th.”
The Northern Lights shine behind the barn.
Matt Melnick
Melnik has been a photographer for decades and never misses an opportunity to take a photo. Northern lights whenever he can.
“I’ve been photographing the aurora for about 20 years,” Melnick said. “I took my first photo of the northern lights in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, and I was immediately hooked.”
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While Melnick's home office has his fair share of professional-grade camera gear, he tells Global News that the average person doesn't need to invest as much as they do.
“As long as you put your cell phone on a tripod to keep it steady, you're just taking a long exposure,” Melnick said. “Set it to Pro mode (or use Night Sight on Android) and then take an eight- or maybe 10-second exposure. Cell phones can actually take pretty decent photos.”
Northern Lights Photography.
Matt Melnick
As a commercial pilot, Melnik has more opportunities than most to catch dancing light effects, many of them from the cockpit. But some of his favorite photography spots are just outside the Calgary city limits.
“Towards Drumheller (it’s) one of my favorite places,” Melnyk shared. “It’s very, very dark and there are a lot of cool photo opportunities and seeing the northern lights there.”
Ideally, when solar activity is high, the night sky is mostly cloudless, and light pollution is minimal, you have a good chance of capturing the northern lights.
But of all the places Melnik has seen the world, there are still places on his bucket list that he hopes to one day visit to capture them.
“Finland and Norway,” Melnik said. “These two countries often have some of the best northern lights I have ever seen (in photographs).”
The Northern Lights occur when charged particles are ejected from the Sun and enter the Earth's atmosphere.
Global news
The Northern Lights occur when solar flares or coronal mass ejections eject charged particles into space. Particles carried away by solar winds enter the Earth's atmosphere near the north and south poles. As these charged particles pass through the atmosphere and collide with oxygen and nitrogen particles, the energy is discharged, creating a colorful display in the night sky.
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