{"id":5285,"date":"2024-11-22T22:29:01","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T03:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/?p=5285"},"modified":"2024-11-22T22:29:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T03:29:01","slug":"what-your-eyes-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/2024\/11\/22\/what-your-eyes-see\/","title":{"rendered":"What Your Eyes See"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-indent: 10px;\">What You Need To Know<\/h4>\n<h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Cameras can have long exposures and wide apertures to let in lots of light<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Image editing can bring out the colors<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Our eyes don&#8217;t pick up color very well in low light<\/li>\n<\/h5>\n<p>For those of us in the mid-latitudes\u2013that is, most of the U.S.\u2013aurora aren\u2019t visible very often, especially the farther south you are. And when they do show up, they\u2019re typically not very bright.<\/p>\n<p>So how do photographers snap such stunning photos?<\/p>\n<h2>Technology<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cCameras with long exposures will pick up on the northern lights because cameras use that long exposure of several seconds to absorb the light and colors of the aurora,\u201d says Willard Sharp, who photographs everything from severe storms to solar storms. \u201cModern camera sensors are very sensitive in low light, so it\u2019s easier to get a detailed photo of the aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Northern lights fill the sky in Edinburg, N.Y. (Photo by Derek Spagnola)<\/p>\n<p>A long exposure and wide-open aperture let a lot of light in. \u201cThis allows the camera to gather data in a photo that I can then work with in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop to bring out details and get the colors to look good and natural,\u201d Sharp says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour eyes may not catch as much color here [in the Lower 48], but the camera will do a wonderful job with that several second exposure to get a vivid picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Biology<\/h2>\n<p>And why won\u2019t your eyes catch much color? As great as they are, they\u2019re just not equipped to do color at night.<\/p>\n<p>You might know that your eyes have rods and cones, which are stimulated by light. The gist is that we have three types of cones that work with the brain to see red, green and blue (and all the combinations of those), but cones need a lot of light&#8230; something that the night sky doesn\u2019t provide.<\/p>\n<p>Rods are much more sensitive to light so we can see at night, but they don\u2019t have nearly the same color abilities as cones. Sure, we can kind of see color, but it\u2019s not at all vivid. Our eyes, like a camera, need a wide aperture and a lot of light to get the most out of what\u2019s in front of us.<\/p>\n<p>Normalized wavelengths the rods and cones of the eye are sensitive to. (CC by 4.0\/Ibrahim Al-Bahadly)<\/p>\n<p>Even so, \u201cwhen you head north to, say, Canada, the lights are much brighter even with weaker geomagnetic storming, so the eyes can see them much more easily,\u201d Sharp says.<\/p>\n<h2>Photography tips<\/h2>\n<p>Sharp has a \u201cnight skies cheat sheet,\u201d if you\u2019re interested in trying out astrophotography. And you\u2019ll need patience. Forecasting space weather is even more difficult than Earth weather forecasts, and Sharp says looking at the data can be \u201cdaunting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes a predicted geomagnetic storm will not pan out as expected. Other times minor space weather events trigger big and bright aurora displays,\u201d says Sharp.<\/p>\n<p>NOAA\u2019s Space Weather Prediction Center has an aurora dashboard that displays current space weather conditions and aurora forecasts. Sharp also recommends SpaceWeatherLive. Here are the parameters he likes to see:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kp: At least 5<\/li>\n<li>Bz: At least -10 for at least one hour; two or more hours is better, and -20 suggests aurora visible to the naked eye<\/li>\n<li>Solar winds: At least 500 km\/sec<\/li>\n<li>Density: At least 5, but 10 or higher is better<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>The next time you see stunning aurora photos, remember that it\u2019s not just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Technology and biology play a crucial role in capturing these breathtaking images. Cameras can pick up the colors of the aurora, but our eyes are not equipped to do the same. If you want to try your hand at astrophotography, be prepared for a challenge \u2013 it requires patience, knowledge of the right conditions, and the right equipment.<\/p>\n<h3>FAQs<\/h3>\n<h4>Q: Can I see the aurora with my own eyes?<\/h4>\n<p>A: Unfortunately, if you\u2019re in the mid-latitudes, the aurora may not be visible, or it may be too faint to see well.<\/p>\n<h4>Q: How do I take better pictures of the aurora?<\/h4>\n<p>A: Use a camera with long exposure and wide aperture, and consider editing the photo in software to bring out the colors.<\/p>\n<h4>Q: How can I predict when the aurora will be visible?<\/h4>\n<p>A: Check the Space Weather Prediction Center\u2019s aurora dashboard or SpaceWeatherLive for current space weather conditions and aurora forecasts, and look for the parameters mentioned above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What You Need To Know Cameras can have long exposures and wide apertures to let in lots of light Image editing can bring out the colors Our eyes don&#8217;t pick up color very well in low light For those of us in the mid-latitudes\u2013that is, most of the U.S.\u2013aurora aren\u2019t visible very often, especially the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-weather"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7d2.scene7.com\/is\/image\/TWCNews\/Northern_Lights_Julie_Roy_WI_GRANTSBURG_32423?w=1280&resize=1280,720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5287,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5285\/revisions\/5287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}