After the natural spectacle that occurred on the night of May 10 to 11, other solar storms will hit the Earth between now and the peak activity of our star, which is scheduled for early 2025. One of them could hit us arrive Friday.
How to immortalize moments of a fascinating, free and rare spectacle? Usually reserved for the poles, auroras – boreal and southern – can be visible at surprising latitudes. This is what happened in France and in many countries in the northern hemisphere, on the night of May 10 to 11. The sky was tinted pink and purple under the effect of a violent solar storm, a massive influx of particles from the Sun ejected at very high speed towards the Earth. A new salvo could hit our planet on Friday May 31, according to specialized media such as Space Weather Watch.
This type of event will probably be repeated by the end of 2024 (or the beginning of the following year) when the Sun will have reached its peak activity. Indeed, our star experiences cycles of around eleven years and we are in the final stretch before its next maximum.
Many photos shared on social networks on the night of May 10 to 11 were taken with smartphones. And the results are stunning, like this photo by planetologist Thomas Appéré. In addition to looking north, franceinfo gives you five tips for documenting the next spectacle that will light up the night sky.
1 Flee light pollution
To put all the chances on your side, you must above all place yourself in an appropriate setting, that is to say where light pollution is reduced. “If possible, if you can just drive 10-15 minutes away from the cities, that’s always better”underlines amateur astrophotographer Yann Sainty, co-discoverer of a nebula around the Andromeda galaxy, whose photo was crowned the most beautiful astronomical photo of the year 2023.
Being at altitude can be a plus. But between placement away from city lights and at altitude, it is better to favor the first, according to Yann Sainty. However, city lights are not necessarily distracting and the capabilities of today’s smartphones are powerful enough to cope with them, as these photos show.
2 Use “night” or “pro” mode
Smartphones have a wide variety of cameras, whether they are iOS (iPhone) or Android (Samsung, Honor, Huawei, etc.). But they also have similarities. “Almost all phones have a ‘pro’ mode or a ‘night’ mode to take long exposures and capture as much light as possible”explains Yann Sainty.
“The easiest way to do it quickly, without having to worry, is to put the ‘night’ mode on and the phone will sort everything out on its own.”
Yann Sainty, amateur astrophotographerat franceinfo
“My friend took photos of the aurora in ‘night’ mode, fully automatic, and it was incredible. We could see them really well.”, he relates. The names may differ depending on the model: it may be called mode “night” or “night shot”. Very often, it is noticeable thanks to an icon in the shape of a crescent moon. It is also possible that the mode “night” activates automatically, as shown in this special tutorial for iPhone.
“With the ‘pro’ modes of certain phones, you can also adjust the focus, for example. You have to set it ‘to infinity’ because the auroras are so far from us that it is better to adjust it as That”agrees Yann Sainty. “If we can manage the opening [de l’objectif], you have to start by putting the smallest number possible. It’s counterintuitive, but the smaller the number, the bigger the aperture.” A larger aperture allows the device to capture more light, which is crucial in a nighttime context.
3 Take your tripod
“As these are long exposures, you have to be absolutely still for the photos to be clean”, warns Yann Sainty. Ideally, bring a tripod. If you don’t have one, placing your phone against a window (without a trace) can do the trick. “Leaning against a window sill, the edge of a table, or against a tree if you are in nature, this also workscomments the astrophotographer. If you are careful not to move, this can also work freehand for a 3 second pose. But for thirty seconds, it’s impossible.”
4 Take lots of photos (to get a few right)
The rule is that there is no absolute rule. Or perhaps that of adaptation, of flexibility. Phones can offer exposures of fifteen or thirty seconds but these should be taken with a grain of salt. “It’s not necessarily the longest exposures that make the best photos. It all depends on the context. If you have a lot of light around you, you may capture too much. It will be overexposed and end up completely white”, notes Yann Sainty. Here is the result that an Internet user obtained, from his window, with an exposure time of five seconds.
In other words, the different suggestions presented earlier in this article for adjusting your smartphone are only starting points to be gradually refined.
“The most important thing with such an event, when we don’t know, is to do as many tests as possible to be sure to have at least a few good ones.”
Yann Sainty, amateur astrophotographerat franceinfo
“You must not get lost in the euphoria of the moment, or the fear of missing your photos”, he adds. According to him, it is crucial to take the time to examine your photos, to judge whether they are successful or not and to see how to improve them. It is possible to play with the exposure time, the different parameters available in your phone or even, quite simply, to change the frame, he suggests.
“If a night like May 10 happens again, it’s not going to last five minutes. So it will be worth taking the time to conduct tests.” And the best way to make photographic memories of a future episode is, according to Yann Sainty, to take charge of your phone and explore its possibilities now. “This avoids wasting time and the stress of discovering the settings.”