Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS

Having graced the skies in the southern hemisphere for a while, the bright comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS has now passed perihelion - its closest approach to the Sun - and the first positive sightings have been reported from northern Europe as the comet recently swung into the skies of the northern hemisphere.

I tried to see the comet yesterday evening, which was probably the first chance to catch a glimpse of it here from Tromsø in Northern Norway, but less than an hour before sunset the clouds rolled in and covered all the western horizon, blocking the comet from view.

Right now, while bright, the comet is still fairly close to the Sun and may be difficult to spot simply because it is seen against such a bright background twilight sky, but for each day now the comet will become increasingly easy to spot (at least if the weather co-operates...) since it will be seen against a darker sky for each night as it travels away from the Sun.

At the same time, however, its brightness is predicted to drop (unless it catches us by surprise as comets have a tendency to do), but the following weeks/s should nevertheless offer a nice evening view of this icy wanderer as it climbs higher and higher up in the sky and if not a naked-eye object it should be an easy target in a pair of binoculars.

Right now, to find the comet, look for it fairly low due west after sunset. For more details on where to locate the comet, consult Skyhounds excellent finder charts here. In appearance, it should look something like the famous comet C/2006 P1 McNaught (photo below), but not as bright as McNaught was.

Comet PANSTARRS should look something like the famous Comet C/2006 P1 McNaught

(but it is not as bright as McNaught was) as seen here on a photo from Tromsø, 8 January 2007

 

Happy comet hunting!

Looking back on Humpbacks

Earlier in the winter, the overwintering herring has provided some of the largest marine predators with a "Smörgåsbord" here in Northern Norway.

By now, the herring has moved further south on its spawning migration, but three months ago my friend and colleague Audun Rikardsen and me went out to document the spectacular feast together with the film crew of "Ut i Naturen" that can be seen tomorrow (26 Feb) here.

The first humpbacks we saw on the trip were feeding together in Skulsfjorden outside Tromsø in the last rays of the sun before the polar darkness period that begun the day after our trip (21 Nov 2012).

Tromsø by Night

Aurora Photo Exhibition - Winterlude, Canada

Today, the Sun is shining on newly fallen snow on the mountains around Tromsø in Northern Norway - a wonderful, and longed-for sight after the long period of polar darkness. A perfect time to celebrate the beauty of the winter!
 

 Part of the Exhibition: “Northern Lights; Nature’s Own Magical Lantern"

Presented by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Ottawa, Canada

In Canada, they have understood this perhaps better than in any other place. Today, 01 February, the three-week long festival - "Winterlude" - that celebrates the winter starts and on the programme is musical concerts, skating displays, ice-sculpture competitions and much more.

In Confederation Park in Ottawa (also known as Crystal Garden, being the site for the ice sculpture competition), my photo-exhibition “Northern Lights; Nature’s Own Magical Lantern” will be on display daily during the festival. The exhibition is presented by the Royal Norwegian Embassy together with the National Capital Commission (NCC) in Canada.

I wish the amazing organisers of Winterlude in Ottawa, Canada all the best luck with the weather and the festival - few things are more beautiful than ice, winter and a dark clear sky with northern lights!

 

 

The Sun has returned again! Here shining on the face of Tromsdalstiden

(a summit rising 1238m above sea level) in central Tromsø

Book-release / Bok-lansering

Finally it is time for the release of the book "Northern Lights - A Guide" that I have written together with solar physicist Pål Brekke.

Below is the press-release from the publisher:


ENGLISH

Pål Brekke and Fredrik Broms |Northern Lights - A Guide

NEW BOOK: ALL YOU WISH TO KNOW ABOUT THE NORTHERN LIGHTS

What is more beautiful on a cold winter’s night than catching a glimpse of the northern lights or “aurora borealis” dancing across the sky?

Northern Lights – A Guide is a richly illustrated book that provides answers to all you wish to know about the northern lights. When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? What is needed to be able to observe auroras? And last but not least, how to photograph auroras with a digital camera?

For thousands of years people in the northern part of the world have marveled at the spectacular displays that occasionally light up the night sky. This stunning phenomenon is deeply embedded in the mythology of many cultures, and in the past, the causes of northern lights were ascribed to everything from dancing spirits to God’s anger. But no one suspected a connection with the Sun until a little more than a hundred years ago, when the Norwegian scientist, Kristian Birkeland, realized that the Sun bombards the Earth with particles. After decades of research, we now know that auroras appear when charged particles from the Sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, which directs the particles into the atmosphere where they collide with gases and emit the light that we call auroras. By monitoring the activity of the Sun it is therefore possible to forecast the strength and location of the aurora.

In Northern Lights – A Guide Pål Brekke and Fredrik Broms gives you the answers to all the questions you might have about the northern lights

__________________________________________________________________________________


NORSK

Pål Brekke og Fredrik Broms |Nordlyset - en guide

NY BOK: ALT DU ØNSKER Å VITE OM NORDLYSET

Hva er vakrere en kald vinternatt enn å få et glimt av nordlyset som danser over himmelen?

Nordlyset – en guide er en rikt illustrert bok som gir svar på alt du ønsker å vite om nordlyset: Når kan man se det? Hvor bør man reise? Hva slags utstyr trenger man? Og sist, men ikke minst: Hvordan tar man sine egne bilder av verdens eldste og mest spek­takulære lysshow?

I tusener av år har folk i nord latt seg begeistre av det spektakulære lysshowet på nattehimmelen. Fenomenet har satt mytologiske spor i en rekke kulturer på den nordlige halvkule og blitt tilskrevet alt fra dansende ånder til Guds vrede. Men ingen tenkte på å sette det i forbindelse med solen før for hundre år siden. Da oppdaget den norske forskeren Kristian Birkeland at det skyldtes at solen bombarderer jordkloden med partikler. Vi vet nå at nordlyset oppstår når ladede partikler fra solen interagerer med jordens magnetiske felt, som sender partiklene ut i atmosfæren hvor de kolliderer med gasser og lyser opp himmelen. Ved å overvåke solen, er det derfor mulig å forutsi hvor og når nordlyset oppstår.

I Nordlyset – en guide gir Pål Brekke og Fredrik Broms deg videre svar på alle de spørsmål du måtte ha om Nordlyset.

Photographic Summary 2012 / Tilbakeblikk på foto-året 2012

First of all, I wish all of you the very best for 2013 and I wish to thank you all for the many nice and helpful comments and suggestions regaring my photography during 2012 for which I am very grateful. Thank you!

Humpback Whale - Feeding Frenzy

In the past, I have always pointed my camera towards almost anything in nature, but during the last two years, when I have started to realise that my photography is about to turn from a hobby into a job, I have found myself concentrating mainly on the two topics that fascinate me the most: 1) Marine Ecology and 2) Aurora Photography and Astronomy.

Firstly - Humpback Whales, my job as a marine biologist has got much closer to my photography, mainly through my work to establish a Photo-Identification Catalogue on Humpback Whales in Norway and the camera is now an important tool in my work. I wish to thank all of you that have contributed to the research-catalogue by sending in your fluke-photos of humpbacks to the data-base at norwayhumpbacks@gmail.com

The data-collection has already yielded some very interesting re-sightings of humpbacks and I will continue this work in 2013 together with research institutes around the world. Below is a short video showing some of the field-work in 2012:

Data-collection for the North Norwegian Humpback Whale Catalogue

Secondly, my photography (being mainly focused on Auroras and night-time photography), has turned from a hobby into what might turn out to be a job, or at least more than a hobby. During the autumn, I found myself realising a project that I have had in my mind for a long time and teamed up with the solar phycisist Pål Brekke and wrote a popular science book on northern lights. During the long hours of writing I found myself digging more deeply into the physics behind this and many other astronomical phenomena and my old astronomy-interest has taken a new turn.

The book "Northern Lights - A Guide" will be released on 23 January 2013 at a media press-release in Oslo on 23-24 January.

Link to English version: Northern Lights - A Guide

Link til norsk versjon: Nordlyset - En Guide

The old astronomy-interest has also led me to accept to give the opening talk of the 75-year Anniversary Conference of the Norwegian Astronomical Society (NAS) in Tromsø 1-3 March 2013, for which I am honoured. In this talk, I will try to share my experience as an aurora photographer and come with tips for anyone wanting to photograph this phenomenon and explain more about what actually causes the auroras and how it is possible to predict when and where strong northern lights are most likely to occur.

2013 is likely to be one of the better years for aurora-watchers in a long time

All in all, it looks like 2013 will be a year full of interesting astronomy events for night-time photographers, and one of my other greatest fascinations, comets, seem likely to put up a spectacualar show during 2013, but more about that later.

2013 is also predicted to be a year full of spectacular northern lights due to the peak in solar activity!

Humpback in the Blue Hour / Knølhval i den blå timen

Here in Tromsø, the polar darkness dress the mountains and the fjords in a magnificent blue twilight colour.

In this silent winter world, a humpback whale brakes the water surface in the hunt for herring and the sound of the splash echoes across the cold fjord - a truely magical time here in the north - the blue hour!

Geminid Meteor Shower / Geminidene meteorsverm

One of the best meteor showers of the year - the Geminids - are here!

The peak in activity will be tonight, but usually, the nights before and after the peak is also good. Yesterday evening was cold and clear and the moon is new today and doesn't interfere with the viewing conditions this year at all, so if only local weather conditions co-operate tonight, it should be a spectacular sight.

Below is two photos from this morning showing two of many meteors that streaked across the sky accompanied by pulsating auroras. The planet Jupiter and the Pleiades can be seen over the barn.

 

Bright Geminid fireball with a distinct yellow-reddish hue

For more information about aurora and night-time photography, check out this new book release!: The Northern Lights - A Guide

Humpback Feast / Knølhval-Fest

The Humpback Whale feast continues in the north of Norway. While the Polar Darkness starts to become a real challange for photographers and equipment alike, the few hours of light that remains is truely magic!

Humpback in Polar Darkness / Knølhval i Svart-Hvitt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Humpback Whale Photo-ID project / Knølhval Foto-Identifikasjon Database

The Norwegian spring-spawning herring returned to the coasts of Northern Norway in October/November and with the herring, the humpback whales have come back again!

As part of my project on establishing a Photo-Identification Data-Base of humpbacks in Northern Norway, I have been out at sea to try to collect as many fluke-pictures as possible. All whales have unique patterns on the underside of the flukes (see photo) and not two humpbacks look the same.

By using photos of the flukes as a fingerprint makes it possible to identify individual whales and follow their migrations over the world. In this way, it has been shown that "Norwegian" humpbacks may travel all the way to the West-Indies and the Carribean, some 8000km one-way trip!

Each fluke is unique !

To help finding out more about the biology and the migrations of humpbacks in Norway, I would be very happy to hear from you if you have seen and photographed humpback whales. Maybe it is you that have the pictures leading to a new discovery about humpbacks?

Please contact me at: norwayhumpbacks@gmail.com

WANTED: Humpback / Knølhval - Photos

For more information (in Norwegian) click the following link to an article about the Photo-ID project made after a photo-trip with my friend and colleague Espen Bergersen: Naturgalleriet

Beginning of Polar Darkness

Today the Sun climbed above the horizon for the last time in 2012 here in Tromsø in northern Norway....

....but the polar darkness is far from dark !

This is what the sky looked like yesterday, marking the beginning of the most beautiful time of the year.

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

All over northern Scandinavia, Eastern vagrants of the bird-world have yet again found their way to the west - driven by the plenty of rowanberries as is so often the case in October/November.

Large amounts of thrushes and waxwings have invaded the north Norwegian coast during the last two weeks and here and there the beautiful Pine Grosbeaks / Konglebit / Tallbit can also be seen feasting on the rowanberries while singing their melodious tones.

The bird picture of the week will be one out of many shots taken of this colourful finch from the East.

Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) / Konglebit / Tallbit

 

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

It has been a very long break in the series "Bird Picture of the Week", so I feel that I have to start out small when trying to take up the thread again...

Therefore, I`ll re-start with a photo from yesterday of no other than the smallest bird in Europe, the Goldcrest (Regulus regulus).

Goldcrest / Fuglekonge / Kungsfågel

Solar Storm

After a strong geomagnetic storm on Oct 13, bright auroras have been seen over much of the planet - also far south of the aurora zone. When the storm first hit us, North America was on the night side and here in Scandinavia it was bright day.

The following nights have been characterized by mainly strong pulsating auroras covering the entire sky with the occasional surge in intensity creating curtains, rays and coronas shining through the "aurora haze".

One effect of being in the middle of a storm as soon as the sun set was that the most prominent parts of the Milky Way was still high up in the sky and the auroras coloured it in red and green.  The Andromeda Galaxy can be seen as a "smudge" in the lower right of this photo.

Milky Way and Auroras

Full Moon Auroras

After midnight the rain-clouds parted and revealed a spectacular view of the Full Moon surrounded by bright and unusually colourful Northern Lights in green and purple.

All three photos are taken due south - the light of dawn can be seen on the second photo.

Breath-taking Auroras

After several weeks with mostly cloudy and rainy weather here in the north, the sky cleared up tonight and revealed one of the most spectacular and colourful displays of northern lights that I have seen in a long while.

Now that solar maximum is approaching, it is likely that the coming months will be filled with truly spectacular auroras that may extend far south of the Arctic circle. Already last season, auroras could be seen as far south as France and Italy in southern Europe and in the southern states of the US.

One of the many photos I took during the night shows a lonely tree clad in orange autumn colours and was selected by NASA today as the best Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)

All the photos below are taken during the night 19-20 September on one of the islands off the north Norwegian coast close to Tromsø - for more aurora photos - check out the web-site Northern Lights Photography

I wish you all clear skies and hope to see you under the auroras some day!

 

 

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

Autumn is here and this is always an exciting time for bird-watchers.

This week`s bird-picture was taken earlier today when I was sneaking around through the autumn-coloured leaves of some mountain birches and discovered a bird that is only visiting Northern Norway during this time of the year.

 

Why these small (9-11 cm) warblers decide that it is worth the effort to come all the way here from their original distribution range in the far East (most breeding birds are found east of the Ural Mountains in Russia) I don`t know, but it`s a fascinating, a very long and somewhat different type of autumn-migration than "normally" seen.

 

So far this year, this is only the 4th Yellow-browed Warbler found in Norway (and the first was found by a good friend of mine on 31 August while ringing birds on the same island, Kvaløya outside Tromsø)

 

 

Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) / Gulbrynsangere / Taigasångare

First auroras of the season / Sesongens første nordlys

Finally!

After a long period with midnight sun and no stars, it felt almost unreal to see the auroras dancing across the light blue sky again. Only Jupiter, Venus and the brightest of the stars were visible against the light sky, so it must have been a fairly strong "impact" at around midnight local time.

At its strongest, both green and red/purple rays were dancing over my head while I was standing barefoot in the grass and watching the auroras - a somewhat unusual combination here in Tromsø!

The aurora-season has finally started!

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

This week I decided it was time for a somewhat humouristic bird picture, showing a Slavonian Grebe / Horndykker (Podiceps auritus) with an unusually small head compared to its body...

Slavonian Grebes breed in freshwater areas with a lot of vegetation and usually lay 1-2 eggs. After hatching, the striped chicks are often carried on the back of the adults.

While the adult bird was sticking its head under the water I snapped this photo of the newborn chick trying to hold on to the back of its mother.

Spending more time with the Humpback Whales / Knølhval

This summer I have tried to spend some time with one of my favourite animals in the world - the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) - a species that I am trying to understand and learn more about from photo-identification that makes it possible to study the migration patterns and other aspectis of the biology of the humpbacks.

Below is a selection of photos taken in July this year that I decided to leave without any text this time and let the photos speak for themselves.

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

This week`s bird picture is of a small colourful wader - the Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus).

They breed in small tundra marches/ponds here in the high north and spend the winter pelagically as far away as in tropical oceans like e.g. the Indian Ocean.

They are well known for having reversed sex roles compared to most other birds. The females pursue the males and compete for nesting territory and most of the females have already migrated south. The males incubate the eggs and look after the young before they leave too.

Red-necked Phalarope / Svømmesnipe / Smalnäbbad simsnäppa

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

This weeks bird picture is of Gannets / Havsule (Morus bassanus) circling the air at different heights close to the breeding colony on Eldey, Iceland.

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

This weeks bird picture has a questionmark behind it. Maybe someone can help me?

In the middle of what seems to be a rather poor year for most birds, the terns are busy bringing in food to feed their newborn chicks. This bird, although resembling a first-year tern in the autumn, however, is probably a second-year Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea), not a too common sight here in the north as most 2nd year birds stay in the south. Maybe also 3rd year birds can look like this, even though I thought they resembled the adults by that time? Or is it even a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) at its 2nd year?

Around 100 people have viewed the picture on the national bird report system, where I reported it as a 2K Arctic Tern with a questionmark, but no one has commented on species or age. Any tern specialits out there?

The picture is taken on the 21 June in Tromsø, Norway, me being a bit behind the schedule on the bird picture of the week..

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

The Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) is a fairly common wader along the shores of Norway, and a very beautiful one. With its orange legs, black-and-orange beak and a contrasting plumage in brown, black and white, this small wader has a lot of colour and is at the same time well camouflaged.

Ringed Plover / Sandlo / Större strandpipare

Bird Picture of the Week / Ukens Fuglebilde

After having spent most of the last week at sea outside the coast of Nordland county, the bird picture of the week had to be a sea bird, so this week an adult Gannet / Havsule (Morus bassanus) flying low over the water surface is the front figure.