Night Shots – The Moon, Stars & Northern Lights

Here are a handful of images I have been collecting that show the night sky featuring the moon, stars and/or the Northern Lights. Most of these pics were taken in Oslo but a few were shot in Sweden or the southeast Norwegian coast last summer, as well as up in the mountains above Rjukan in Norway.

The moon nestled in some pinkish-purple clouds, seen out the window last June (a day from being a full supermoon)
A crescent moon rises at about 1am outside the little coastal town of Tvedestrand in Norway
Another supermoon rising (behind clouds, dag nab it) over an island in the Oslo fjord last summer in July
A closer look at that July supermoon, so shy behind those clouds
The supermoon rises higher and brighter, shown now behind some signal lights and a safety ring along the fjord
A first quarter moon sinks down towards the horizon near Smögen in southwest Sweden last summer in August
As that moon dips below the earth, the distortion at the horizon makes it look like it’s a melting, stinky cheese (to me at least)
Just a simple shot of some of the surface features on our dear moon
My first shot ever of part of the Milky Way – this over the lights of Smögen in Sweden last August
The same evening in Smögen, I shot straight up to see the Milky Way above the chimney of the hytte we had rented
Looking up at the Big Dipper in our backyard, I thought this splay of clouds was an interesting shape and texture – almost like milk poured from the dipper into the blue coffee of the sky (?)
Here is a faint bit of Milky Way seen over Gaustablikk when we were up near Rjukan last November
I waited until our Earth twirled enough so that the Milky Way was above the Rjukan valley such that it kind of resembles a reflection of the city lights up the night sky
Before the majorly active Aurora came out to play these last few weeks, I went out to try and see it back in early February and it was just a sort of amorphous and subtle blob over the frozen fjord – but I did capture a falling star
And now, pardon me, but I must dump a few images of the Northern Lights over the lights of Oslo (seen from our local beach Hvervenbukta) that so many people saw on the evening of February 27th
Right after we got to the beach, we got the brightest green display of the night, stretching over central Oslo and the fjord
Later, the green was more dispersed but we got to see a bit of pink as well (very subtle here) over to the west, here looking over the Nesodden peninsula and beyond
I swapped lenses to get a bit closer to the lights of central Oslo (when viewing on a bigger monitor one can easily see the ski jump, the antennae towers as well as the Roseslottet art installation near the antennae, etc)
Bear with me, almost done: I had to tilt my slightly wider lens into portrait orientation so I could fit the huge green curtain of light in the sky as well as the city and a bit of the fjord at one point
Okay, last one: later in the evening a calm but bright green Aurora dome sort of spread over the lights of Oslo (you can see the snow on the partially frozen fjord near the beach we are at)

Published by kewtiebird

I am an amateur photography enthusiast living in Oslo, Norway. My favourite subjects tend to be landscapes and nature - but I enjoy capturing urban scenes, architecture, abstract shapes and street art as well.

17 thoughts on “Night Shots – The Moon, Stars & Northern Lights”

  3. They’re all wonderful! I’ve only seen the Northern Lights from a plane but that was a great experience – no one else seemed to be awake, it was dark and quiet and the constant shifting of the aurora was mesmerizing. But I also love your crescent moon, the first full moon that appears to be floating on that cloud, and so many more. 🙂

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    1. I saw the northern lights (after being in Oslo since 2005) for the first time in Jan last year (2002) and now again during one of the really strong displays recently (as posted). Since there is cloud cover a lot in the early winter we have to get lucky with both the high activity and a cloudless nice. It’s great when those factors align. AS for the Milky Way, I read that the galactic core is below the horizon for most of the time when we have dark nights so I didn’t think I’d see it either but, yes, you can still “see” (with a decent camera+ lens combo) the rest of the stars of it, it’s just not as fabulous, I guess. Def check it out!!

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      1. Last time I remembered. Peaked out the window. Didn’t see anything. Went to bed. No effort on my part 😀 Guess I’m spoiled after staying/living in the north 🙂 Ah, that’s how you see the Milky Way in Norway 🙂

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    1. Thanks so much! I was chuffed to get that Milky Way shot in Sweden as it was still summer and night doesn’t last very long up here, even in August. And, of course, we were lucky with such strong Aurora displays this season and lucked out with lack of cloud cover on one of the nights. Appreciate your comment!!

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