Northern Lights Flights

The Northern Lights Flights

The following images are copyright Paul Money (unless otherwise credited) and permission is granted to download them and print for your own personal use to show family and friends. All views and comments made here are my own personal observations. It should be noted that as the aircraft is continually moving (of which I'm glad!) the images are long exposures of several seconds, with the Minolta and Canon cameras generally 15 seconds. Thus some star trailing occurs on the original raw images. Where it is possible I have done my best to correct the trailing with image processing , always with the aim of recreating how it really looked and compensating for any trailing of the stars. I hope you enjoy the images. Some of the best images of the flights are now available to purchase as gifts from our online shop.

Noted Astrophotographer Pete Lawrence has become part of the regular team and has also managed to get some great images so why not check out his web site for more flight images. An overview of the flights and the best of the images can also be found on this new site created by Pete to gather together the best images of each flight (from the November 2007 flights) so do check out the Auroraflights web site.

Index of flight seasons with images
2005 flights	2006 flights	2007 flights	NEW! 2008 flights

2005 flights

Here are some examples of the images I have taken on the Liverpool John Lennon flight of March 8^th 2005 with a Minolta Dimage Z1 Digital SLR. All exposures were on manual setting and are 15 seconds at F2.8 ISO 400 equivalent.

The initial Auroral band is sighted and is fairly diffuse	It often begins to break into structure with brighter portions flaring up and other parts fading or pulsing
A main bright band develops with brighter patches shimmering along its length	The auroral band sometimes curves back on itself and 'Rays' extend up from parts of the brightest sections

These images were taken using the same equipment on the Gatwick, Leeds-Bradford and Liverpool John Lennon flights November/December 2005 exposures were between 15 and 30 seconds.

This shows the main Auroral band developing a bright section. Image taken on the Liverpool John Lennon Flight Dec 4th 2005	A bright band developed on the Gatwick flight Nov 28th with rays extending up from it.
Enhanced view of the Gatwick image of Nov 28th 2005	This is my best image so far and was taken on the Leeds-Bradford flight on Nov 29th 2005

2006 flights

These images were taken using a Canon 300D DSLR on the Spring 2006 flights from Norwich, East Midlands Airport, Gatwick (2 flights on different nights) and Manchester. The Norwich flight was an early evening flight so we also got several bonuses of Mercury, Sunset and the Earths Shadow.

A Glorious Sunset to start the Norwich flight off with!	Norwich: The twilight sky and at far left near the horizon lies the planet Mercury - a rare event from a Northern Lights flight as they are normally quite late in the evening for take-off.
Norwich: The Earths shadow approaching us from the East.	Norwich: Cygnus and Lyra with the Aurora through them and the last vestiges of twilight at far left. Note the aircraft lights in the distance below Lyra.
Norwich: Cygnus and Lyra with the Aurora through them - a fainter band but quite a few stars!	East Midlands Flight (EMA) 270206: Aurora in Pegasus with Andromeda and its famous galaxy visible at upper left. Click here for an annotated enhanced version.
Another view from the East Midlands flight	EMA 270206: Cassiopeia from approx 36,000 ft.
Gatwick flight 020306: Main band across the sky with a hint of the Milky Way as well.	Gatwick flight 020306: Upper Cygnus with Milky Way and Aurora to the lower left
Gatwick flight 020306: Best view with rays on far right.	Panoramic view of main Auroral band and wing in darkness
Two week gap to let the Moon get out of the way.
Gatwick flight 220306: Note the curtain effect along the base of the aurora. This image is available to purchase via the Astrospace online shop.	Gatwick flight 220306: This view shows rays extending up near the wing tip from a brighter patch of the main band. This image is available to purchase via the Astrospace online shop.
Gatwick flight 220306: This view taken shortly after the last image.	Manchester flight 260306: - the best Aurora yet!
Manchester flight 260306: note the detail along the lower part of the Aurora.	Manchester flight 260306: Note Cygnus above the aurora and wing tip illuminated by the red nav lights and yet the aurora is still viewable.
Manchester flight 260306: more structure can be seen in the lower parts of the band.	Manchester flight 260306: Even a direct view of the red Nav light doesn't completely prevent viewing a display! This image is available to purchase via the Astrospace online shop.
Northern Lights Flights Autumn 2006 Some of these images are now available to purchase via the online shop.
Gatwick 2nd Flight November 22nd 2006. This was the only good shot I got but the display was excellent! This image is available to purchase via the Astrospace online shop.
Norwich: 231106 - a stunning aurora and probably the best any of us have seen in recent years. Note the multiple bands and the green and red glows. This image is available to purchase via the Astrospace online shop.	Norwich: 231106 - the display lasted most of the flight with the POSS web site reporting activity between 6 and 9 (where 10 is the best!). Here we see a brightening of sections of the main band with a lighter ray extending from the right end of it. This image is available to purchase via the Astrospace online shop.
Norwich: 231106 - What more can we say - absolutely stunning amount of detail with multiple bright patches and structure all along the band. This image is available to purchase via the Astrospace online shop.	Norwich: 231106 - the view as we were almost ready to turn back for Norwich Airport. The main display had settled down but still with some structure. The two main stars of Gemini are at right, Castor (top) and Pollux (bottom).

2007 flights

Note some flights had images taken by Pete Lawrence so visit his site: www.digitalsky.org.uk and the main auroraflights.co.uk site

Gatwick flight : 120307 - reasonable diffuse band across the sky with little activity but still enjoyable to see. This image was the only one I got that was worth putting on the web site of this flight.
East Midlands 'Anniversary' flight 140307. I call this the anniversary flight as it happens to be Lorraine and my wedding anniversary! Lorraine very kindly allowed me to be on this flight which was also special as my Father was on board for his 70th birthday surprise :-)
The lights kick in!		We had a pretty good display!
The Birmingham flight 160307
Good auroral band with some subtle detail	Better image with some success with recording the stars	Constellation of Auriga
The November flights: Images for the Newcastle Nov 7th, Liverpool Nov 8th, Norwich Nov 11th, Bristol Nov 14th and Birmingham Nov 16th flights were mainly taken by Pete Lawrence Some of these images are now available to purchase via the online shop.
Leeds/Bradford flight 081107
View of Tyneside from the plane! Click here for an annotated version.	The view of a reasonable auroral band with some decent structure
Manchester flight 091107
Best and only decent image I was able to take. The aurora kicked in very detailed with just 10 minutes of 'rotation time' left before we had to head back!
Norwich flight 111107
Quite a faint display and I only got these images when it brightened a little as we headed back.		Although the aurora is faint (behind the wing) I like the effect of the stars and the wing with the city lights trailed below
Gatwick 2nd flight 121107 - a great display for all to enjoy!
Dartford and London as we set off!	We soon find out we're in for a good display. This image is available for purchase from our online shop	It got better with much subtle details, pulses and rays. This image is available for purchase from our online shop
Lots of detail with ripples along the aurora base	We didn't want to leave it behind - but you have to return home sometime! This image is available for purchase from our online shop
East Midlands flight 151107 - another great display for all to enjoy!
Great start to the display with lots of structure	It got brighter with several bands and rays. This image is available for purchase from our online shop
Several very kind passengers on either sides of the plane allowed me to capture images with the wings silhouetted against the bright aurora	This image is available for purchase from our online shop	This image is available for purchase from our online shop
These two views were taken from the other side of the plane thanks to the kind passengers. Note several rays were very bright! Behind the wingtip the dark patch resembled an anvil - which was pointed out by Pete in his commentary. This image is available for purchase from our online shop	This image is available for purchase from our online shop	In the meantime whilst I roamed up and down the plane giving advice, Nigel and Pete gave a running commentary - don't they look spooky!

2008 flights

Note some flights had images taken by Pete Lawrence so visit www.auroraflights.co.uk

Some of my images are now available to purchase via the online shop.

The Bristol flight 040308
Only one image came out reasonable as it was a weak display that only kicked in just before we had to turn back for home.
The Birmingham flight 070308
The display began with a weak double band - note the large number of stars captured in this view - I managed to keep the camera steady! The darkened wing tip can also just be seen at the lower right edge. This image is available for purchase from our online shop	Good auroral band with some bright patches developing then fading.	Better image with some success with recording the stars although they were slightly out of focus. Andromeda lies diagonally through the middle whilst Aries is at the left edge. This image is available for purchase from our online shop
Newcastle flight 090308
From the outset it was apparent that this display was going to be superb! This image is available for purchase from our online shop	And it continued with bright pulses, rays and patches quickly forming then fading. This image is available for purchase from our online shop	The rays often extended quite high and sometimes reached Cassiopeia! This image is available for purchase from our online shop
Lots of detail and a lot of very happy aurora watchers on board the plane! This image is available for purchase from our online shop
Gatwick flight 250308 - Note there were two flights with the 2nd on march 26th but I was not on that flight
It was apparent that this display was going to be very good! This image is available for purchase from our online shop	Lots of detail along the bottom edge with more to come. This image is available for purchase from our online shop	Some good rays were seen. This image is available for purchase from our online shop
Lots of structure and at times I (Paul) could see a red tinge to the upper parts which came out in this 25 seconds exposure at ISO 3200. This image is available for purchase from our online shop

ã Paul L Money 2008