“This year, as we reach the solar maximum of the current solar cycle, the Northern and Southern Lights are more active than ever, lighting up the sky in unexpected places where they have rarely or never been photographed,” say organizers of the Northern Lights Photographer competition the year 2024.
Bringing together the work of dozens of photographers around the world, the unique competition highlights the endless variety of landscapes, atmospheric conditions and astronomical phenomena that combine to create otherworldly visions of the heavens.
When solar wind causes disturbances in the Earth magnetospherewe are sometimes treated to a luminous, wavy sky. The phenomenon is often called the Northern Lights northern lightsand in the southern hemisphere this is the case aurora australis. The names were coined by the 17th century astronomer Galileo and are based on ancient Greco-Roman gods who watched over the dawn (Aurora) and the northern and southern winds (Borealis and Australis respectively).
Presented by Capture the Atlaswhich combines photo tours to destinations with guidance and tutorials for photographers of all levels, the competition’s top 25 images (a selection of our favorites included here) include locations from Spain to Namibia and Arizona.
Uros Fink‘s stunning shot from Istria, Croatia, highlights a beautiful aurora with a Perseid meteor shower. He described the moment as if he was “being treated to a ‘multi-course meal’ of the night sky,” capturing not only the greenish glow, but also the Milky Way, the constellation Orion, Zodiacal lightand the distant glow of Jupiter and Mars.
Other winners include Tom Rae‘s glowing view of the Milky Way bathed in pink light, taken from Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park, New Zealand, and Josh Beames‘s dramatic drone shot of an erupting volcano in Iceland against a luminous green curtain.
Discover all the finalists in the Atlas’s Capture online galleryand keep an eye out for updates on travel opportunities and the next competition Instagram.
