The logical continuation of the incredible buzz resulting from this photograph at the beginning of 2023. The “airglow” photo, a rare atmospheric phenomenon, taken by Julien Looten, a 23-year-old amateur photographer and archeology student at the Master Prehistory in Bordeaux , has just been designated “astronomical image of the year 2023” by the French Astronomy Association.
The image of the year was elected by the public by an online vote organized from February 9 to 23 among the 20 photos selected by the competition jury, specifies the association. One more reward for the young man from Arras (North).
Phenomenon close to the Northern Lights
Because his photo, after being posted on the networks at the beginning of 2023, was quickly spotted. Notably by Apod (Astronomy picture of the day), a… NASA site, which in turn published it. It was then taken over by Sky, another reference site which compiles the best of Apod. The impact of the photo had thus gone far beyond the borders of France.
“I found myself next to the photos of Hubble, of James-Webb, of all the observatories around the world which take astronomy photos, and which are models for me,” he told 20 minutes Julien Looten, in February 2023.
Setting out to take “simple” photos of the Milky Way above the Château de Losse, in Dordogne, this night of January 21, 2023, the amateur photographer found himself in the presence of an airglow, a rare natural phenomenon, close to the aurora borealis, caused by a chemical reaction in the upper atmosphere, where the sun’s rays excite molecules during the day which reform during the night by emitting light.