Photographer: György Soponyai

Summary Authors: György Soponyai; Stu Witmer

In the photo above aurora borealis dance above Adventtoppen mountain 2,579 ft (786 m) on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It was around 9:30 in the evening and the Sun was shining 9 degrees below the horizon. This is the time of nautical twilight, a time when both the stars and the horizon are visible for navigation. As can be told from the difference of brightness of the mountainsides, sunset is behind the mountains. The foreground is painted orange by the lights of the nearby Longyearbyen Airport. Photo taken March 20, 2015.

Photo details: Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Focal Length: 50mm; Exposure Time: 6.000 s; ISO equiv: 320; Software: Adobe Photoshop 7.0.