Michael van Santen, May 10/11, 2024
Since I have been dealing with the topic of astronomy, there have been promising forecasts for the northern lights over Germany from time to time. So far, however, I have never had any success with it in this country, neither visually nor photographically. Until now.
The forecasts for the night of May 10th to 11th, 2024 were so extraordinary and the weather so promising that I definitely didn't want to miss the spectacle. So I decided to find a cozy spot in the garden and just watch the sky if I was lucky.
At around 10:20 p.m. I entered our garden and turned my gaze north. Due to the time of year and time, it was still far too bright to enjoy the starry sky. Also, my first thought was that the light pollution was shockingly obvious. It was only at second glance that I realized that the red color in the entire northern sky had to be the announced Northern Lights.
I quickly set up my camera and started taking photos. The first shots were out of focus, blurry, too light or too dark, but luckily after a little experimentation, some usable photos emerged! At the same time, I sent messages to friends and family informing them that they should definitely go outside right now and look north.
As the night progressed, the Northern Lights were clearly visible again and again and each time they seemed more intense to me. The colors and beamers became more and more obvious and were also clearly visible to the naked eye. At around 1:30 a.m. I finally gave in to the pull of my bed and ended what was, for me, a very successful Northern Lights night.
All shots were taken with a Fuji X-T30 and Fuji's 18-55mm lens at 18mm focal length and an aperture of F/2.8. The exposure times varied between one and four seconds. The location of the event was the tranquil Achmer, a district of Bramsche.
