Photo of the Week for September 8, 2017

Although overall levels of solar activity in the current cycle are in decline, that doesn’t mean the Sun is inactive. This past week alone, its disc was peppered with big, active sunspot groups, and on September 6, it unleashed the most powerful solar flare since 1990. Of course, when the Sun is active, observers are often treated to auroral displays.

Krista Trinder caught this ribbon of Northern Lights and the Milky Way on August 21, at Childs Lake, in western Manitoba. To record the 11 individual 20-second exposures (at ISO 3200) assembled to create this striking mosaic, she used a Nikon D750 DSLR camera and a Nikon Nikkor 17-35mm zoom lens, set to 17mm and f/2.8.