Mega Shetland Aurora - No1

This is the first part of an amazing Aurora that hit Shetland last Thursday. After weeks and weeks of severe gales, snow, hail, and heavy rain not to mention the total cloud cover the night was surprising clear and still and even correctly forecasted 

You could even see it from our light polluted  house, at least three arcs 

Arriving down at Sandsayre just after 6pm you could see the Aurora starting to form

After a few minutes a few fellow Shetland Aurora Hunters arrived to admire the display

The moon was very bright so hence the illuminated foreground, which i always like to see

Tom Jamieson join us having arrived straight for work

Showing Aurora alerts are not always reliable, this one didn't rise above an Amber alert but seeing it I would have put it down as a Purple alert (top one) this was the best display I have seen in 5 years

It had to be powerful to beat the moonlight 

The display lasted for just an hour then it clouded over before returning for 1/2 hour just after 9pm. More photos on the next blog

Looking forward to giving a talk on the Aurora in Shetland in Sandwick on Thursday, hope to see some of you then.