2024 - My year of astrophotography
Astrophotography is certainly not a speciality of mine, but I enjoy giving it a go - 2024 was a year that delivered for astrophotography!
We were treated to several strong geomagnetic storms resulting in displays of the Northern Lights in the UK.
January to April was pretty much a write-off for me and I started getting out with the camera in May.
The 10th of May will likely stick in my memory for a long time - it was my first strong aurora display for the year.
In fact, it was absolutely bonkers! It was so strong it was the first time I'd seen it with the naked eye.
The lights danced around the sky for about half an hour and the colours were out of this world.
I went to a spot to photograph the lights (which you'll see later) but the lights weren't in a position for a good composition - but I still had to shoot this crazy display.
The next day I snapped a quick shot of the sun using a DIY solar filter.
You can see the sunspots from which the CME that caused the story likely came from.
June is usually the time of year I start to see Noctilucent clouds and 2024 was no different.
A mix of fighting with low cloud and struggling to find compositions locally resulted in me not getting anything worth publishing - I did try though.
July was pretty quiet but August made up for it, treating us to several strong displays of the Northern Lights!
On the 12th I went back to the same spot where I went in May to take shots of the lights - this time I was incredibly lucky.
Not only did I capture the aurora - but I also managed to capture a Perseids meteor in the same shot!
This was my first time shooting astro with my new Nikon Z8 and 24-70 2.8 Z.
Annoyingly, I knocked my lens whilst putting on my lens heater and messed the focus up slightly but I still love how this shot came out.
The shot proved popular along with a timelapse I took and it was picked up by several news outlets and websites including the BBC, Sky News and space.com!
A timelapse of the Northern Lights
Subsequently, on the 13th of August, we had yet another pretty strong display but had to fight with the clouds.
Due to not having time to scope out locations I ended up at the same spot but opted for a different angle of the trees.
Later in August I took a break from the Northern Lights and photographed the "supermoon" which the media love to blow out of proportion (literally).
The moonrise on the 18th of August in the UK was very red due to smoke from wildfires across the Atlantic drifting in.
September was quiet but October came in hot with, you guessed it, another ludicrous display of the Northern Lights!
Can you guess where I rushed off to once I got the alert on my phone?
Ahh yes, the lucky tree!
In my usual unplanned state, I could not think of anywhere to go in the time I had - so I ended up in the same spot.
I think it paid off though - it proved incredibly popular with news and media outlets!
A few of the websites using the shot and a timelapse being showed on the BBC
The best part of the 11th of October though for me wasn't the tree, it was taking the next two shots that I thought were only possible in my dreams.
Like with the tree, I have an unhealthy habit of shooting the same locations. The famous Knaresborough Viaduct scene is one I've shot to death with the rest of the locals.
However, I always joked about how cool it would be having the Northern Lights above it to finally take something a bit more unique.
Well - it happened!
When I took this shot, I was just laughing at how absurd it was seeing the aurora with your naked eyes at this spot.
I'm still not sure which one I prefer, but the second shot shows the strength a bit better.
On a slight side note - there is a stupidly bright light that shines onto the Viaduct, and despite bracketing for it, I still didn't manage to get a decent exposure to blend in to make it stand out less.
That was it for the lights in 2024 - the weather had different ideas.
The final astro shot I got of the year was a last-ditch attempt and photographing Comet C/2023 A3 - Tsuchinshan-ATLAS.
I had planned on a few occasions to shoot the comet with some foreground interest but my planning and the weather didn't comply.
So I just had to opt for a quick non-tracked stacked shot at the side of the road in Harrogate.
In 2024 the astrophotography community lost a legend in Alyn Wallace who sadly passed away in March.
Alyn's YouTube channel was a constant source of inspiration and guidance for me when it came to astrophotography.
Being a similar age to me, his passing was a huge shock and a reminder of how little time we have on this planet.
This definitely kicked me up the arse to get out and shoot more in 2024.
The results of my work in 2024 will definitely add to the motivation to get out and shoot more in 2025!
Thank you for reading this article and as Alyn would always say - I wish you good luck and clear skies in 2025.
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