Everchanging Forms of Aurora

Aurora is a master fine artist of nature, with its ever changing forms and colors painted by dancing lights on the night sky of polar areas.

In this sequence of all-sky images (made by a full circle fisheye lens) from Lapland in northern Sweden, each scene is only 2 minutes apart from the other, showing the stunning dynamic of a strong aurora display. There is a deep connection between people of the far north and these majestic lights.

Sami people in Lapland traditionally believed that the northern lights were the energies of the souls of the departed. Some Eskimos described aurora as the dancing spirits. Some Indians in the North America described it as a fire in the far north, a reminder from the creator of the Earth. — Babak Tafreshi