The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are vibrant light displays that occur in the sky, usually near the polar regions. For the last one, cycle 24, you really needed a pretty decent camera to photograph it. Now people are capturing it on their smartphones and anybody can be an aurora chaser. Now is definitely the time to keep an eye on those alerts, because if you miss this opportunity, it will probably be another decade before we get to another really good run of auroras.
Head of geography at Lurgan College, he finds his students are increasingly interested in getting tips from him about when they can next see the northern lights. The particles interact with gases, resulting in a kaleidoscope of colour in our skies.
Higher up in the atmosphere, the oxygen molecules emit more red colours. This means getting away from artificial light like street lamps and preferably finding a darkened area in the countryside or by water. Cameras pick up the colour much brighter and much more intensely than the naked eye will. Then what the camera allows you to do is capture even more. It was like a superpower, which just led me to this incredible fascination with the night sky.
Those moments of standing still are brilliant for drinking in the experience of the night sky. I love that sense of just connecting to something that is unimaginably big and grand. It can really give you perspective in life. Hamill often captures himself in the photographs, by setting his camera up on the tripod and putting it on a timer.
Despite witnessing and photographing countless auroras in recent times, he still gets excited about the prospect of those pillars of aurora lights appearing in our skies. Most of the time, the displays are very nice and you take a few photographs. Then every once in a while, its beauty literally takes your breath away.
