Photographer Tim Sullivan shoots the moon and heavens

Northern lights drop curtains of color over the Midcoast

Mon, 09/15/2014 - 9:45am

    ROCKPORT — In a brief half-hour, photographer Tim Sullivan captured what the naked eye had a hard time seeing Saturday night, Sept. 12. The aurora borealis reached down over the northern dome of earth, shedding its energy over the skies.

    Sullivan was waiting for the show at Beech Hill, and set up his camera, a Nikon D3200, facing northwest to the Camden Hills (that’s Megunticook to the right).

    With a 17-35 mm wide-angle lens set at 17, his shutter speed at f2.8, an ISO (the camera’s light sensitivity) of 1600 and with a 10-second exposure, the camera saw substantially more of the northern lights than humans ever could.

    “The aurora was really only visible in the area from 8:30 to 9 p.m.,” he said. “The sun obscured it until 8:30, and the moon rose around 9; the strength of the aurora was also diminishing around then.”

    Sullivan said he is beginning to learn astrophotography, shooting the moon, stars, the Milky Way and now aurora.  

    Aurora borealis is caused by charged particles from the sun striking the earth's magnetosphere, and follows intense electrical storms on the sun — sun spots. The particles enter earth’s upper atmosphere and mix with gases there. The more oxygen there is, the color of the sky turns green. Pinks come with nitrogen.

    Usually, the northern lights’ visibility hovers over the northern tier of the U.S. and Canada in an auroral zone, and generally at latitudes 55- to 65-degrees (Rockport is at 44 degrees), although there have been occasions when they can be seen in Florida.

    The particles interact with the gases in our upper atmosphere, making them glow, according to Kevin McCartney, a professor of geology at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

    “The experience was pretty cool,” he said. “Though I've seen auroras in the past, this was really strong with brilliant curtains of light opening up.  Of course, the color the camera captured was not quite visible to the eye, though we could see them faintly.”

    Sullivan and his friends (plus a couple from New Jersey who happened to be vacationing in Camden) gathered on Beech Hill, and reported that the moonrise was spectacular, as well. It was also getting cold, as temperatures began to dip to the 40s. 

    See more of Tim Sullivan’s photos on Facebook and at his website.


    Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657