When I first began to explore the night, I viewed the night sky as a static object. Little seemed to change to the eyes of an impatient teenager. Nowadays it seems I can’t look up without seeing something going on up there. There are all kinds of nocturnal phenomena to keep your eyes entertained with if you have the patience to wait for them to coincide with favorable weather.
On any clear night, one can now step outside and trace satellites through the stars. Space X’s recent Starlink launches have drawn a lot of attention this last year, with large groups of satellites visibly reflecting the light of the sun as they pass overhead. Meteor showers occur throughout the year and there’s always the chance that a sporadic fireball could flash through the skies at any moment. Noctilucent clouds, comets, airglow, lightning storms, and aurora are just some of the incredible and quite predictable light shows waiting to be seen. As with anything; there’s always an app out there to help you spot each one of them.
This image was captured near Harstad in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, just one hour after landing in the arctic archipelago. A geomagnetic storm hit the atmosphere as we pulled over to have a quick snack beside the fjord, leading to the most unbelievable half-hour of my life.
