Why do the aurora look better through a camera? And how do you spot a fake image? Q&A with an astrophotographer

By Darren Baskill, Lecturer, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex

On 10 and 11 May 2024, large parts of the world were treated to their most spectacular display of the aurora – the northern and southern lights – in a generation. Thanks to modern cameras, the phenomenon was all over social media. It seems almost everyone knew someone who managed to snap vivid images of the night sky illuminated in pink, purple and green.

To understand why camera phones were able to pick out colours and details invisible to the naked eye, The Conversation spoke to Darren Baskill, an astrophysicist and photographer – an astrophotographer – at the University…

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~	How collaboration from across Canada, and the world, is helping fight the Alberta wildfires

~	Video game performers are becoming Hollywood stars in their own right − and are on strike to be paid and protected accordingly

~	Paris Olympics: Canada’s soccer drone scandal highlights the need for ethics education

~	World News in Brief: Historic Palestine monastery on World Heritage in Danger List, rights office condemnation as Ghana upholds anti-gay law, free jailed Russian activist

~	Nearly half of children born in Wales in 2002-3 classed as having special educational needs – this may have negatively affected their attainment

~	Bosses are increasingly forcing workers back into the office – but evidence suggests it could backfire

~	Commonly used drug may extend women’s fertility, claim researchers – here’s what you need to know about rapamycin

~	The first farmers often made landscapes more biodiverse – our research could have lessons for rewilding today

~	An artist has stolen a coin from the British Museum as part of a performance piece – but is the artwork ethical?

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