Wednesday Aurora in Shetland

Shetland at last had some clear skies and the weather forecast was correct for once with a couple of hours of stars

It was an Orange Alert during the time I was walking St Ninian's isle but no one else came to view.

I don't particularly like totally dark nights as photos tend to look flat, a Moon 25-50% is much better as it lights the landscape

I caught this rare red Aurora on camera and as the Aurora was very active it was showing well over to the west

All the photos were taken with a 24mm Samyang lens and a Sony A7s camera between ISO 6400-8000. The A7s is very good in low light.

                                                                          Bigton Church

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St Ninian's isle, Shetland at night

No Aurora activity for a few days now and a series of spotless days on the sun. We did however have a couple of sunspots which shed a bit of light on the fact that we might becoming out of the Solar minimum

Stars above Bigton Kirk

Looking south with Mars in view

St Ninian's Tombolo

Looking south from Ireland towards St Ninian's

Boats on the horizon

Starry Night in Shetland

No Aurora the other night but just managed to capture some stars before the clouds came in. Pleased to see one of my Aurora photos have been used by Shetland Accomadation Guide 2019

 Bigton Church

Sandwick Church

 St Ninian's Isle without the Moon

 St Ninian's Isle with the Moon out

Looking NW from Bigton

Looking south from Sanick, Sandwick

Aurora Reminders

We are now getting closer to the solar minimum and as a result we should get less aurora activity. The sun is again spotless making this the 133rd day so far this year, you have to go back to 2009 to find a period like this and this was the deepest solar minimum this century.

Already this period we have had a couple of nights when the Aurora  has shown but this was around 2.00am , too late for me. I always think of September as the start of the season with the nights drawing in so any observations can be at a reasonable time.

The photos shown here are from last season and we had some crackers including these taken at Bigton

`Steve' also made an appearance and was totally unexpected and it still sparks of conversations among the hunters. Too many people made the mistake of trying to get round a lot of locations and spent too much time in the car rather than photographing.

The appearance of `Steve' is usually one arc but two could be seen, a rare sight indeed. The green usually associated with the arc can be seen in the lower on in the above photo.

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High energy can be seen in these photos and was easily visibleto the naked eye, it certainly was fast moving and for me was one of the best Aurora nights I have experienced

If you want to join me on a course to photograph the night sky, then book the one below which will be held in Lerwick, Shetland in November/ December. Only a few places available so book soon

Early KP8

The weather forecast for Tuesday had not been good before 9pm so when photos started to appear on Shetland Aurora Hunter at 6pm we decided to head straight out.

We had planned to go to a different location but as time was ticking by we went across to Bigton and onto St Ninian's isle about 10 mins away.

You could already see the Aurora in the sky and it was covering more of the sky than usual. Setting up quickly the green  in the sky was spreading.

Activity started to begin with a curtain stretching across from St Ninian's isle to the east side of the  mainland.

Strong coloured pillars started to appear, along with brighter green in the curtain a sign of an active Aurora. You could easily see the green and the pillars with the naked eye, but the camera sensor always picks up more colour.

I rushed down to the beach from the top carpark just as green blobs started to appear, it was becoming one of the best Aurora's for a while.

No one else appeared so it seemed that most folk would be missing this peak activity. You have to react quickly, so within 1/2 hour since leaving home it was at its peak. This lasted about 10 more mins before activity reduced just as someone else arrived.

The height of the green was also reducing although still high compared to most nights. It was one of those nights that will stick in my memory for along time. Folk in other parts of Shetland were not that lucky with the weather as heavy cloud affected the west and north.

After about 1.5 hours the cloud started to roll in and activity reducing all the time. Back home stats confirmed a big one , a KP8 which ended up being visible down in the south of England. It peaked again after midnight but by then I was just dreaming all about the experience.

With nearly 1500 members it time to come and join Shetland Aurora Hunter on facebook, on the 16 November we will have been going just one year so thanks to everyone who has joined. Lots of good phones, camera settings and information available