Explore a guide to photographing auroras

A basic camera setup or a phone is enough to capture stunning aurora photos

Auroras result from solar particles interacting with atmospheric elements. This article provides tips on improving the quality of aurora photos taken with simple equipment and the best times and locations to yield better photos.

Photographer catches stunning shot of an aurora over an Icelandic waterfall

Photographer Cari Letelier captured a stunning shot of the aurora borealis over the Godafoss waterfall in Iceland, a composite image pulled from nearly three dozen exposures. The aurora phenomenon is typically visible in Earth's northern latitudes...

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

Watch a 4K time-lapse of auroras seen from the International Space Station

The video was created from 711 photos taken by European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli on Sept. 15, 2017, as part of the Vitality, Innovation, Technology, and Ability mission.

Aurora-related activities drive significant tourism in regions near the Arctic Circle

As the peak solar cycle approached from late 2024 to early 2026, airlines serving countries such as Iceland, Finland, and Canada increased their scheduled flights, with direct flights to Tromsø, Norway, doubling since 2018. The northern lights tourism market has grown about 10% per year and is expected to increase from $941.9M in 2024 to $1.648B in 2030.

Crackling, popping, and rustling sounds have been reported during auroras

At the altitudes where auroras take place—between 100 and 300 kilometers (62 to 186 miles)—air is not dense enough to efficiently vibrate and carry sound waves to the ground. However, one theory suggests that the geomagnetic energy behind auroras can trigger electrical discharges near the surface, which may be the cause of reported sounds.

Explore a gallery of lightning photography taken from the Grand Canyon

In this series, award-winning photographer Adam Schallau accompanies each image with expert advice on how to capture the phenomenon successfully. Initially requiring the shutter to remain open for extended periods, today's technology includes a device called a lightning trigger, which senses incoming lightning and automatically manages the shutter.

A photo's brightness can be controlled by the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO

Aperture refers to the size of the opening of the camera lens and controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor. Shutter speed impacts how long the aperture is open, while ISO affects the camera sensor's sensitivity to light.

Explore a guide to observing comets

Binoculars or telescopes can be used to see vivid tails, glowing comas, and brief bursts of brightness from these celestial objects. For photography, a DSLR or mirrorless camera with a wide-aperture lens, long exposure settings, and accessories such as tripods and star trackers is recommended.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

Scientists have tested atmospheric models by firing rockets into the aurora borealis

Functioning like components of a CT scan, the missiles transmit signals that can be used to identify charged particles and electromagnetic currents in slices. The slices are then combined to construct a computer-based model of Earth's atmospheric structure, which is used to compare the accuracy of physics-based models.

Astrophotographer Vincent Bouchama's stellar photo archive

Astrophotographers specialize in collecting as much light from celestial objects as possible while minimizing the movement of the object they're capturing. It's a unique skillset—requiring unique tools—but the results are often universally...

Scientists quantify how far from the poles auroras will be visible using the G-scale

The Geomagnetic Storm scale indicates the expected severity of the deformation of Earth's magnetic field based on the amount of energy injected by the solar wind. Solar activity is monitored using various satellites to forecast these storms, which can also be used to anticipate damage and disruption to power systems, radio communications, and satellite navigation.

Perseverance captures an aurora on Mars

The Perseverance rover captured the first visible Martian aurora, offering insights into Mars's atmospheric interactions. A coronal mass ejection likely triggered the aurora since the planet lacks a global magnetic field.

East Asian records of auroras may date back to 10,000 BCE

Ancient texts from Japan, Babylon, and China contain accounts of auroras dating back millennia. Because auroral activity and intensity are driven by periodic ebbs and flows in solar activity, these records allow scientists to identify patterns that may help anticipate particularly dangerous future solar storms.

An exoplanet detection method involves measuring a host star's auroras

Astronomers have reported indirectly identifying a planet by observing its debris interacting with the magnetic field of the star it orbits. The interaction is a larger-scale version of the auroras observed on Jupiter, which are produced when material released by its moon, Io, interacts with the gas giant's magnetic field.

Explore the Arctic from your living room

Explore the unique ecosystem and wildlife of the Arctic tundra thanks to Google Earth and Explore.org. Captured from a series of stationary and moving live cams, watch polar bears gather as they wait for the Hudson Bay to freeze so they can search...

Photographer captures glowing flowers in ultraviolet light

Debora Lombardi utilizes ultraviolet light to reveal unseen colors in flowers, re-shaping their natural beauty. Beginning during the lockdown of March 2020, Lombardi's experimentation evolved, culminating in a series recognized by the World Photography Organization. Her work highlights vibrant purples, blues, and yellows, transforming flowers into surreal, otherworldly specimens by exposing them to UV light in her Italy-based studio.

Images of Jupiter in unprecedented detail

Jupiter has never seemed closer and clearer than it does in these images gathered by the James Webb Telescope. Behold beautiful auroras, hazy clouds, and more. This may not be the classic image of Jupiter (and its stormy Great Red Spot) you're used to, but it tells scientist, and us, more about the largest planet in our solar system.

Contest honors street photographers who freeze fleeting moments

The Pure Street Photography Awards has been connecting and commending international photographers for their talents and storytelling since 2020. See precious moments like an alley game gone rogue, cows bumping heads, and kids flying kites in the gallery.

Watch the motion of an individual photon using a high-speed camera

Although light travels over 3 million football fields per second, cameras that capture trillions of frames per second can observe individual particles of light as they interact with atoms in materials they travel through. Such observations can be used to determine the speed of light in different materials.

A guide to building your own cloud chamber to observe cosmic rays

Using felt, alcohol, dry ice, and a clear container—such as a fish tank—you can create a region of supersaturated air that will cling to passing particles, forming trails of cloud-like droplets. Muons will create straight paths, alpha particles will leave thicker ones, and electrons or positrons will zigzag.

Nor'easters can produce thundersnow—lightning in blizzard conditions

Although thunderstorms typically require warm air to rise in updrafts and collide with heavier soft hail, which creates charge separation and eventual electrical discharge, these cyclones can replicate these conditions by churning the atmosphere through strong winds. Rarely, especially warm lakes can similarly help generate thunderstorms during the winter.

Exploring how directors decide where to place the camera

The seamless experience of watching a film is the result of countless aesthetic decisions, one of the most important of which is the placement of the camera taking the shot. In this 8-minute video, directors and actors weigh in on the factors that shape the angles of cinematography, using famous scenes to demonstrate their observations. Watch it here.

The iconic photo of the Wright brothers' first flight was the photographer’s first

Using a then-state-of-the-art Korona V, rescue member John T. Daniels was tasked with squeezing the device’s rubber bulb the moment the plane left the wooden track on the sand. The camera produced negatives on 5 by 7 sheets of glass.

Bright blue fireworks are the most difficult color to create

Copper chloride emits blue light when heated, but breaks down at the temperatures created when fireworks explode. Pyrotechnicians continue to search for an ideal mixture that provides a temperature high enough for copper chloride to shine brightly without being destroyed.

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.