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Dear all,

We had some discussions at the Science Center regarding how Jeff Hapeman got the aurora photo with such a wide range of colors and brightness.  I decided to write him about the image.  For those who are interested, here is his response:

It is a single 30 second exposure taken at ISO 1600 and f/1.4; no layering or multiple exposures.  I used a Canon 1Ds Mark II; that camera has excellent dynamic range and very low noise.  Because of that, I was able to use the Curves function of Photoshop to bring up the dimmer parts of the image--but this is also very close to how it looked coming out of the camera.

The real challenge was to sit still for 30s.  If you looked at the full-sized image, you would see that I am a little blurry from movement (but I did not post a full-sized image; that camera produces a 16-megapixel image).

Jeff

"Work hard to find something that fascinates you. When you find it you will know your lifework" -- Richard Feynman

Dennis Schatz
Vice President for Education
Pacific Science Center
200  Second Ave. No.
 Seattle, WA 98109
Phone - 206-443-2867
Fax - 206-443-3631

A non-profit bringing science and kids together
in every county of  Washington State

> ----------
> From: 	Dennis Schatz
> Sent: 	Wednesday, September 6, 2006 5:38 PM
> To: 	''psss egroup'; #Division Heads; #Astronomy Interest; 'Colin Schatz'; 'Schatz, Evan (Murray)'; Betsy Pringle; 'Andrew Hess'; [log in to unmask]
> Subject: 	Spectacular photo of the aurora
> 
> <<File: image001.jpg>>
> Dear all,
> 
>  
> 
> I thought you would enjoy this photo of the aurora.  It appears to be a composite photo of two or three images made with different exposure times.
> 
>  
> 
> http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060906.html
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> Dennis
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> "Work hard to find something that fascinates you. When you find it you will know your lifework" -- Richard Feynman
> 
> Dennis Schatz
> 
> Vice President for Education
> 
> Pacific Science Center
> 
> 200 Second Ave. No. 
> 
> Seattle, WA 98109
> 
> Phone - 206-443-2867
> 
> Fax - 206-443-3631
> 
>  
> 
> A non-profit bringing science and kids together
> 
> in every county of Washington State
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 

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