The days are getting shorter, the temperature has started to plummet, the elephant seals have all but departed for their winter-feeding grounds, and every now and then the sun has a little burp and decides to release its energy upon us. In other words, a solar flare, leaving us with the chance of an aurora. So, my quest to take a photo of the Aurora Australis, aka the southern lights has begun.
So, the first night with a bit of luck and stacking the odds in my favour by setting up my camera close to a power point (batteries don’t seem to like −15 degrees), I set the camera to take a photo every 15 seconds for 10 hours, yes that’s 2,400 photos (I told you I was stacking the odds) and headed back inside to the warmth of the LQ. After a good night’s sleep and a little excited, I headed out to retrieve the camera and go through the photos and boy it did not disappoint. After editing the photos into a time-lapse movie, it was amazing how the lights just dance across the sky.
The next day was spent thinking about how I wanted to see the southern lights with my own eyes, so that night with camera in hand I waited and waited for the auroras to show up and at 12:30 am the text came through from Steele (our trusty MET observer on station) that the auroras were here. So off I headed with camera in hand. Stepping outside I found a number of expeditioners already there for the very same reason that I was. Looking up at first all you see is what appears to be low clouds but as your eyes adjust the greens and a little bit of red start to get stronger and stronger until all you can see is the Aurora australis snaking and dancing across the sky in all its glory. Taking photos, I was thinking to myself how lucky we are down here to witness such an amazing show put on by old mother earth.
Scott
