lightandshadowjourney wrote:
What are your thoughts on shooting the Aurora, particularly in Norway, in late February, early March with a waning Gibbous moon? I am concerned about the temp change from inside a van and out into the cold with condensation. The excursion company will provide suitable clothing and tripods. I will probably be using a Sony 65A with a Tamron 18-270, F3.5-6.3. I am curious as to taking a video if there is a probability of success with that, as well.
There is a new moon on Feb 23 and the full moon on March 10, so you will be shooting a night sky with varying moonlight. There will be better shooting in February, since the new to quarter moon will set shortly after sunset, leaving a dark sky earlier. You still might be able to shoot the aurora in the full moon. The aurora is centered roughly over the geomagnetic pole which will be west of you. At your latitude, the aurora will be to your northwest, so to get the moon to your back, you need to shoot before the moon gets too far west.
People at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have shot videos of the auroras but they were using specialized gear. I briefly did a Google search and found several cases where the movies were made from a time-lapse sequence, not shot as video.
Good luck.