Northern Lights - Teepees

Honorable mention in the 2023 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images with smartphones-mobile devices: Northern Lights - Teepees, by Oanh Vuong.

Taken with a smartphone at Cassidy Point, Yellowknife, Canada, on 24 March 2023, this stunning display captured the ethereal Northern Lights painting the night sky. The biting cold of -20°F (-29°C) set the stage for the vibrant hues of the Aurora Borealis, a celestial ballet created by collisions between charged solar particles and the Earth's atmosphere. The Earth’s magnetic field directs the charged particles towards the polar regions, where they interact with the various atoms and molecules in the atmosphere. This natural phenomenon transforms the sky into a canvas of radiant greens, pinks, and purples, casting a mesmerising glow above. The different colours of an aurora are determined by the gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the altitude where the aurora occurs, the density of the atmosphere, and the energy of the charged particles. In general, green is attributed to oxygen molecules, red is associated with high-altitude oxygen molecules, purple and blue are associated with hydrogen and helium, and pink aurorae are typically associated with nitrogen. Against this cosmic backdrop, the teepees of Aurora Village below provide a tranquil contrast to the celestial spectacle unfolding overhead. Preserving the pristine darkness of this location ensures the continued splendour of such awe-inspiring natural light shows.

Credit: Oanh Vuong/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)