Had a trip down to Sanick in Sandwick the other night. Conditions were more or less perfect, still and warmish but a few clouds came in
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Any night you can see the Moon is a good night for me. Last night we had almost a clear sky so i was out to photograph
Even the Aurora showed for a while around midnight but the moon took the edge off it.
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It amazed me how many times i have seen the Aurora even though no aurora was predicted. Last night space weather was flat, no indication of an aurora
However the sky was clear and it was calm with no moon showing at the time, good for the stars.
I thought i would get as high as possible just in case a weak aurora showed so i went to the top of Mossy hill.
On the first photo the camera picked up a weak aurora north over Bigton, not visible to the naked eye.
The aurora started to spread and there was some purple above the green although no rays at anytime and as expect due to it being a weak aurora was very low on the horizon
Good job i headed up the hill, also the cloud was low so could be obstructing the glow.
The stars were magnificent, also Mars shining out and i could see Andromeda as well to the south east.
With the Milky Way stretching over head it was great to be out. No wind which made it good for photography, this is not the place to go when its windy as its very exposed.
At one point the coastguard helicopter came along passing close to St Ninian's isle and casting a red glow over the sea.
I also managed to capture the Aurora, two meteors and two satellites(US Navy Surveillance) on one photo. The meteors are from the Orionid shower, part of Halley's comet with about 20 meteor per hour. I saw 5 including one very bright one but it was the opposite side to where i was photographing
I ended up at the layby above Sandwick on the way home, even over Cunningsburgh with all the light pollution you could see the aurora, well at least the camera could.
By the time i had finished the temperature had gone down from 5 degrees to 0 degrees
By the end of the night only people in Shetland and the very far north reported seeing the aurora.
Not looking good for the next few days with cloud and rain
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A clear night for a change and a chance of the Aurora, well that was the plan. No Aurora showed as the CME passed us by but it was good to get out to photograph the night sky.
Mars was showing big (40%) and bright off to the east just to the left of Sandlodge. Over to the south Saturn and Jupiter showed and i manged to capture both together with Jupiter's moons.
Even at 11.15pm it wasn't dark but in the coming weeks the nights will be drawing in, so hoping for a few clear nights and plenty of Aurora activity
All photos from Sandsayre in Sandwick, Shetland
