Have you ever seen the Northern Lights, or gazed up to see a lunar rainbow – a ‘moonbow’ – in the sky? Imagine witnessing both these events at the same time.
That’s what happened when aurora photographer Chad Blakely set out to capture the Northern Lights over Abisko National Park in northern Sweden.
But instead of capturing a spectacular aurora display, Blakley also managed to capture a moonbow in the same shot.
Read our guide on how to photograph the aurora
Having both phenomena visible in the sky together is rare indeed, and dependent on certain weather and atmospheric conditions, as well as interactions between the Sun and Earth’s atmosphere.
The images were captured around 00:50 local time on 20 September 2024.
Northern Lights
As anyone who witnessed the aurora display of May 2024 will tell you, it’s currently a great time to observe the Northern Lights.
That’s because the Sun is around the peak of its 11-year cycle of activity, known as the Solar Cycle, which increases interactions between the solar wind and Earth’s atmosphere.
This in turn leads to more frequent and pronounced aurora displays.
Moonbows
Moonbows are formed in the same way as rainbows: white light is refracted through raindrops, causing it to split into its constituent colours.
However, as the name suggests, while rainbows are caused by the refraction of sunlight, moonbows are caused by the refraction of moonlight.
This means that aurora and a moonbow being visible at the same time is a pretty rare event.
Capturing the image
“We are currently in solar maximum, a period of intense solar activity that causes more frequent and brighter aurora displays,” says Chad Blakely, a photographer and founder of Lights Over Lapland, who arrange package holidays to see the Northern Lights.
“This combined with humid conditions and a nearly full Moon resulted in this unbelievable display.
“We would have very likely missed it had we not checked our aurora webcam, something we set up in 2013 to give aurora fans a live feed of images of the night sky, and Northern Lights, over Abisko.”
“The Northern Lights are caused in a very different way,” Blakely says.
“The Aurora Borealis is caused by charged particles from the Sun interacting with Earth’s magnetic field.
“There is a constant flow of these charged particles, however during stronger storms they enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles, including hydrogen and helium.
“As a result of this collision, energy is released in the form of light.”
“We are currently at the height of the solar maximum which marks the pest possible time to visit the region to see the lights, however as you need clear dark skies the winter months, with longer, darker nights, is always recommended.
“Then it is a case of being patient and enjoying beautiful Arctic nature as you wait for the best natural light show on Earth.”
Get views of the Northern Lights via the Lights Over Lapland webcam.
Have you captured an image of Northern Lights or a moonbow? Let us know by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com