Airglow in the Night Sky (Patreon)

Last week, a couple of friends and I went out to photograph a 100-year old barn. It was a perfectly clear night; however, when we photographed the Milky Way sky over the barn, layers of thinly colored "clouds" appeared across the starry night sky! Of course, these were not clouds at all—it was airglow. This week's update will explore and explain this beautiful night sky phenomenon.

The above image is a single exposure from a Canon R6 (astro modified to Visible + H-Alpha, which increases red nebulosity) with a 15mm Irix lens, exposed at f/2.5, 15 seconds, ISO 8000. You'll note the layers or waves of green, red and blue airglow on the left and more prominient layers of red airglow on the right side. (The orange color in the bottom-left corner of the sky is from light pollution.)

PDF: Be sure to download (below) and view my latest Version 2.0 eBook update about airglow.

NOTE: My patrons can expect to see many more posts over the next few months, as I continue to "serialize" updates to my original, version 1.1 "Milky Way NightScapes" eBook. These advance updates will become available exclusively to my patrons, page-by-page, until my new version 2.0 eBook is completed and published sometime in late 2023.

All "Milky Way NightScapes" eBook Version 2.0 updates are protected by copyright: © Royce Bair 2023