This spectacular picture from Aoraki Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand was “one of the crucial breathtaking sights” photographer Tom Rae has ever seen. It options the Aurora Australis, the Stable Auroral Red (SAR) arc phenomena, and the Milky Way. | ‘Sky Fire’ by Tom Rae, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year.
Capture the Atlas‘ Northern Lights Photographer of the Year competitors at all times options spectacular aurora photographs, however this 12 months’s seventh annual version is very unbelievable due to distinctive photo voltaic circumstances in 2024.
As Capture the Atlas explains and photographers worldwide have witnessed first-hand, the Sun is nearing the photo voltaic most of its roughly 11-year cycle. As the Sun nears its photo voltaic most, sunspot exercise ramps up considerably, making a better chance of photo voltaic storms and thus, lovely auroral shows.
Due to the spectacular photo voltaic storms that hit Earth this 12 months, photographers had been handled to lovely auroras in areas a lot farther from the North and South pole than regular. While sometimes, northern lights don’t enterprise too far south within the United States, this 12 months’s competitors options award-winning aurora photographs from areas like Arizona, California, and Spain, all distinctive locations inside the historical past of the Northern Lights Photographer of the Year competitors. Despite its identify, Aurora Australis is on show, too, together with photographs from New Zealand, Australia, and even Chile.
With so many nice aurora photographs captured in a gradual 12 months, not to mention a really energetic one like 2024, choosing simply 25 winners is hard. Capture the Atlas editor Dan Zafra sifts via pictures all 12 months and picks the perfect photographs primarily based on the standard of the picture, the story behind the shot, and the way inspirational the photograph might be — does it make others seize their digital camera and hunt auroras?
Without additional ado, listed below are 14 extra of the 25 award-winning photographs introduced in no explicit order.
Patagonia is an exceedingly uncommon and spectacular place to see auroras. Photographer Marc Adamus is “undecided if an aurora had ever been recorded in Patagonia earlier than.’ He captured this shot on May 10, 2024. | ‘Aurora Australis’ by Marc Adamus, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year.‘This night time will stay unforgettable. Between May tenth and eleventh, a large photo voltaic storm struck Earth with unbelievable pressure. It was triggered by a big sunspot space and an X-class photo voltaic flare (magnitude 1.0) accompanied by a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME). A complete of three CMEs reached Earth, interacting and amplifying one another,’ explains photographer Tobias Thäle. | ‘Aurora Mill’ by Tobias Thäle, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year.‘As somebody enthusiastic about each the night time sky and climbing, I had at all times needed to seize climbing beneath the celebs. We carried our mountain climbing gear up the observe and onto the glacier — an ideal spot for climbing, easy accessibility, and, being so distant, a perfect location for photographing the aurora,’ says Henry Frakes of capturing this photograph in Aspiring National Park, New Zealand. | ‘Sky and Ice’ by Henry Frakes, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the YearThanks to a robust G5-class storm, even France obtained in on the aurorae this 12 months. Julien Looten’s panoramic shot from Normandy reveals wealthy purple and pink hues above a inexperienced arc. | ‘A Historic NIght: Northern Lights at Étretat’ by Julien Looten, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year‘I’ve witnessed numerous aurora shows in my life, however this one had presumably essentially the most intense crimson colour I’ve ever seen,” says photographer Vincenzo Mazza about this picture he captured in October 2024. | ‘Red Wall’ by Vincenzo Mazza, Capture the Atlas Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2024Another shot from May 10, 2024 reveals auroras in Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. | ‘Coronal Mass Eruptions’ by Matt Haynie, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the YearFrom inside a collapse Victoria, Australia, David Tanis captured this colourful show. Many different photographers loved the night on the coast, so it was a communal expertise. Tanis says he was one of many few photographers trying east that night time, capturing a definite body regardless of the crowds. | ‘Gibson Glow’ by David Tanis, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the YearRokolyana Hilevych captured this vibrant crimson auroral show within the Dolomites in Italy after a chilly nighttime hike. The photographer shot 840 frames from 8:30 PM to five AM. | ‘Coronation’ by Roksolyana Hilevych, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the YearPhotographer Uroš Fink was “handled to a ‘multi-course menu’ of the night time sky” earlier this 12 months when he noticed the aurora, the Milky Way, and the Perseid meteor bathe in Istria, Croatia. | ‘Cosmic Explosion’ by Uroš Fink, Capture the Atlas Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2024‘It’s not day-after-day that the Northern Lights make it as far south as Southern Arizona! I’ve been captivated by the aurora ever since I first noticed it in Iceland in 2018, so once I heard there was an opportunity to witness it right here, I didn’t hesitate to seize my gear and head into the desert with a few mates,’ says Lynsey Schroeder. | ‘Looking North’ by Lynsey Schroeder, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the YearSergey Korolev ventured to the northern fringe of the Kola Peninsula in Russia to get this picture. ‘I fell in love with this place throughout my first go to 10 years in the past, and now, yearly, I attempt to return and seize one thing new.’ | ‘In the Rays of the Solar Wind’ by Sergey Korolev, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the YearMax Trafford had seen the northern lights simply as soon as earlier than capturing his superb shot in Dartmoor National Park within the United Kingdom. ‘What an unforgettable expertise it was,’ the photographer exclaims. | ‘Celestial Reflection’ by Max Trafford, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the YearJānis Paļulis initially deliberate to {photograph} the Perseids, however ended up witnessing an incredible northern lights show in Bauska, Latvia. | ‘When the Aurora Meets the Milky Way’ by Jānis Paļulis, Capture the Atlas Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2024Lava and aurora in a single? Photographer Josh Beames has “dreamed” of this shot for years, and eventually obtained in 2024 throughout his annual Iceland workshop. | ‘Magic of the North’ by Josh Beames, Capture the Atlas 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year
The remaining 10 pictures and extra info for the 15 photographs above can be found on Capture the Atlas‘s Northern Lights Photographer of the Year web site. Photographers hoping to crack the highest 25 subsequent 12 months can be taught all they should learn about photographing aurora in PetaPixel‘s complete information.
Image credit: All photographs are individually credited and offered courtesy of Capture the Atlas.
