What auroras really look like

What the Aurora Really Looks Like from Phil Hart on Vimeo.

When you look through a telescope at a nebula, you could be disappointed for feeling a little disappointed. You're used to seeing those amazing Hubble pictures, or even ones by local astrophotographers. But instead what you are looking at could usually best be described as…well…a bit of fog or smoke. Maybe the barest hint of colour.

Yet a photo of the same subject, even one just a few seconds long, can have beautiful reds, greens, blues.

So what gives? Essentially your eyes are viewing in real time, while your camera can take in orders of magnitude more light. And then we photographers go and enhance the effect inside Photoshop. Not changing the shot, mind you—just enhancing what is already there.

Knowing this, I've often wondered what viewing auroras would be like 'in the flesh'. Timelapses of writing curtains of vivid greens, reds, purples and pinks look fantanstic, but what would I actually see if I saved some (many many) pennies to travel chasing auroras?