Northern Lights from Sweden

Somewhere in the mid of this year, I came across a post in social network that one of the photographer's shots on Northern Lights made it to the Sweden's 2016 stamp programme. That made me to wait and watch for the release of this splendid work on Northern Lights. ( Aurora Borealis )

On November 10th 2016, Sweden post issued 3 philatelic products on Northern Lights - a set of 5 stamps, a FDC and a wonderful collectors sheet. All these 5 stamps are astonishingly beautiful portraying great art work on Northern Lights, reminding us the grand instance of nature's astronomical phenomenon. It also features the location - latitude and longitude ( 63 degree N and 14 degree E ) of where these photos were actually taken, in addition to a special mention of photographer name - Göran Strand.

Göran hails from Östersund, Sweden and it seems photography and astronomy are a huge part of his life. Being an astronomer his photos on astrophotograhy have been published in National Geographic, NASA and as well as other international magazines. I can't imagine how proud he will be to see his photography bringing him a world wide honor.

Göran relies on digital 35mm camera with a wide-angle lens for these amazing images since the Northern Lights drape themselves across such a large part of the sky. ”Besides astrophotography at night, I am also fascinated by the different daytime phenomena in the sky, such as rainbows, halos and interesting cloud formations. Light, in all of its forms, is a passion" says Göran in the November 2016 bulletin of Stamps News, Sweden.

His excellent works can be found at Göran Strand

Polar Lights by USPS

During my stay in US, I never had an opportunity to watch aurora borealis aka Northern Lights but hoping may be in next trip I doesn't want to miss it. In fact I came to know that polar lights phenomenon is possible in US only through stamps.

USPS released a set of two 41 cents stamps in 2007 featuring aurora borealis ( Northern Lights ) and aurora australis ( Southern Lights ). The photograph of the aurora borealis, the northern lights featured in these stamps, was made by Fred Hirschmann of Wasilla, AK. It shows the northern lights over the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska. The photograph of the aurora australis, a phenomenon of the southern polar region, was made by Per-Andre Hoffmann of Stuttgart, Germany who resides in Manila, Philippines. The header image on the pane of stamps ( 20 stamps sheet ) is a photograph of the aurora borealis by LeRoy Zimmerman of Ester, AK. Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA, was artistic designer. 

80 million were printed and plenty are still available in market. Go, get yours, frame it and bring this phenomenon to your living room or where ever you like.

For more details click the link Aurora by USPS