The auroras exist in the outmost layer of the atmosphere. They are created by electrically charged particles that make the thin air shine, not unlike a fluorescent light. They can be seen in auroral belts that forms 20-25 degrees around the geomagnetic poles, both the north and the south. The Northern Lights, also called Aurora Borealis (Southern lights or Aurora Australis in the southern hemisphere), are one of the most spectacular shows on this earth. Sometimes they cover almost all of the sky and seem to be dancing around with such grace and speed that one can only watch in awe. They are difficult to photograph but Sigurdur H Stefnisson has mastered techniques not only to capture the Northern Lights but also some interesting foregrounds in his photographs. He exposes his shots to show us a tasteful blend of the northern lights and the world around him.
On clear winter nights like this one The Northern Lights can often be seen. They are incredibly diverse. Here Siggi has caught a wide band stretching across the sky with Lake Thingvallavatn in the foreground.
And then suddenly as by magic an enormous part of the sky is filled with another patch of the greenish lights right above the first one.
After a while everything breaks up into smaller sections. All this can happen very quickly and just watching them when they are putting on a show can be an exhausting task, let alone capturing them on film.
In another location known for the glass shaped rock Siggi finds another good motive for the elusive lights. One better work fast because one moment they look like this and the next...
...they have changed shape dramatically. The speed that they appear to be moving at is phenomenal but it is of course just an illusion. The movement is caused by the solar particles visibility.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Most photographers would be happy photographing either the spectacular auroras or the the volcanic eruption in Mt. Hekla. Siggi got both. Yeah, some guys have all the luck.
But it wasn't luck, was it? Luck didn't force him to drive all the way to Mt. Hekla any more than it placed him under Mt. Esja for this nice shot. Here the rock solid objects of our world blend in perfectly with the magical elements beyond.
When solar activity is high the sun releases solar particles. These particles travel with solar winds towards the Earth and are drawn into the atmosphere by the earth's magnetic field.
When the electrically charged particles hit the outer layers of the atmosphere it causes them to glow. Different gases in the atmosphere cause different colors as can be observed from Earth in the many color variations of the auroras.
The magnetic field surrounding the earth is strongest in a belt 20-25 degrees around the geomagnetic poles called auroral ovals and that's where the Aurora Borealis can be seen in the north. In the southern hemisphere their are called Aurora Australis.
Iceland is within that belt and the auroras are very common The auroral ovals widens when solar activity is high and solar winds strong. Here Siggi captured this beautiful scene of the auroras in full swing and the red color is caused by the solar particles hitting high altitude oxygen.
The shapes are endless and just by watching the auroras on a clear night for a couple of minutes can reveal incredible change in their patterns, color and size. The auroras are formed from an altitude of around 40 miles up to an altitude of 600 miles.
The atmospheric gases glow with their own color depending on their electrical state and the energy of the particles that hit them. High altitude oxygen produces the rare red auroras but lower altitude oxygen the common yellow-green auroras.
By photographing the auroras at dusk Siggi manages to bring out this lovely blue color, a perfect background for the dancing auroras rippling through the arctic sky.
Here an extreme wide angle lens is used to capture the auroras over Hvalfjord, a big fjord just north of Reykjavík.
The auroras start to form as an arc that brightens enormously and moves towards the equator. New ones form in their wake and striations form upwards and downwards within the arc. Ripples shoot through it forming brilliant curtains of light.
The nitrogens in the atmosphere produce the purplish-red lower borders and edges of the auroras as can be seen in this picture. The green color above, or variations of it, is the most common though.
If you would have seen this sight in the year 500 after having watched a woman burnt to death for witchcraft earlier in the day, what would you have thought. Magic, a confirmation of the supernatural? Think about it for a while.
The auroras have been a source for all kinds of ideas from the supernatural to reflection of warfires at the edge of the world. Later, more realistically, people thought they were reflections of the Sun.
The ideas ranged from sunlight being reflected of the polar ice to sunlight being reflected of ice particles in the air. Either way we were on the right track of rational thinking that would lead to the scientific explanations of today.
Nobody connected the auroras to either the Earth's magnetic field or the Sun until 1774 when french scientist, Jean Jacque Dortous de Mairan, figured out that the auroras are connected to solar activity.
The reflected sunlight theory goes out the window in 1868 when Norwegian Anders Jonas Angstrom uses prism to show that sunlight is different from auroral light. Around 1860 Elias Loomis had defined the auroral zone.
Most of our present understanding of this phenomenon is gathered in this century. Research is ongoing and artificial auroras have even been produced using rockets and barium.
While the scientists are studying the auroras we can enjoy them and Siggi certainly does by grabbing these stunning moments and transforming them into photographs for the rest of us to enjoy and admire.
As the show draws to an end we watch one more of Siggis beautiful photographs. As excellent as they are they still can't show us the movement and speed and I recommend a winter trip to Iceland so you can enjoy them with us.
Finally a picture of Sigurdur H. Stefnisson taken by himself in an equally alien environment. He seems to be either reaching for the sky or crawling underground in his pursuit of photographs a little different from what is normal and ordinary.
