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Introduction to Night Sky Photo and Aurora Forecasting Thawra

This shows a display of the aurora from the Tharwa area where the workshop will be conducted
This photo shows the yellow and red of the Aurora Australis that occurred in the Canberra area.
A display of the aurora Australis provides a yellow and pick backdrop to an old gum
The aurora appears red in colour as it is usual to capture the upper levels of the aurora here
A lovely display of the aurora that occurred in the Capital region in January 2026
This shows the rising Milky Way core at Brayshaw's homestead in the southern ACT
this shows a typical display of the aurora that can be captured with the camera in the ACT area
A star trail can be obtained by using longer exposure techniques and can be covered in the course
STEVE  (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) can be sen as the searchlight like light
It is fun to capture as much as the Milky Way and Southern cross when taking photos of the aurora
This shows a display of the aurora from the Tharwa area where the workshop will be conducted
This photo shows the yellow and red of the Aurora Australis that occurred in the Canberra area.
A display of the aurora Australis provides a yellow and pick backdrop to an old gum
The aurora appears red in colour as it is usual to capture the upper levels of the aurora here
A lovely display of the aurora that occurred in the Capital region in January 2026

Overview

It comes as a surprise to many that there can be opportunities to photograph the Aurora Australis in the dark skies of Canberra. Whilst solar activity peaked around 2025 it is expected that there will continue to be opportunities through 2027.

The same techniques for photographing the aurora can be applied to general landscape astrophotography.

This course which combines a theory component and a practical (field) component shooting the stars in interesting landscape formats over a single evening provides expert tuition on how to monitor solar activity for auroral activity as well as on camera settings or smart phone settings for night sky photography. Detailed notes are provided to each participant.

Ian has been running this course for 10 years and have received excellent feedback from people who have done it, many who now hav captured their own photos of the aurora.

Dates

7 Nov 2026 – 6 Feb 2027
November 2026
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