Tingwall Aurora

`No colour and no brush is able to paint it;no words can describe it in all its grandeur' - Karl Weyprecht

If there is one thing people would like to see, its the aurora. These magical lights are very elusive but you can increase your chances of seeing the Northern Lights (Aurora) by living in an area that is as far north as you can go.

Shetland therefore has to be the best place, especially as a lot of auroras are dim even from Shetland, around KP4 and are therefore not normally seen further south.  These last few days however have been better with KP6.5 recorded, but as luck would have it we had been out and missed it. Just as we headed on holiday a KP8 hit and people in Shetland had some amazing colours- and clear skies.

On Thursday we went up to Asta to listen to some music and looking through the window about 9pm i could see stars and a clear sky. The temptation was too strong, especially as there was no moon (Light pollution) so we decided to go up to the boat shed further up the valley.

We pulled up beside another car where two other people stood watching the sky to see whether any aurora would be visible. Both these people were German and had the spot recommended by their B&B.

The glow in the sky revealed that the aurora was present, but weak. I took a photo which showed a green glow, visible to the sensor in the camera but not to the untrained eye. They seemed quite amazed that they had been looking at the sky for over an hour but didn't realise that they had been seeing the aurora.

They left soon after and missed a stronger aurora quickly developing , along with the green glow (the normal colour) a layer of purple sat on top, curtains and pillars of light began to form and moved across the sky. It was an amazing sight, the best aurora we had seen since moving to Shetland. You cannot witness such a beautiful phenomenon without the sense of awe.

It just confirmed to us how quickly the aurora can develop and then recede, easy to miss especially if you have to travel a distance

The location was reasonable, a dark site but with a steady stream of cars coming down the valley. The red glow coming down from the wind turbines looked spooky. The International space station and a meteor added to the scene.

When photographing the aurora you need to ensure you have a strong tripod, one that doesn't get blown about in the wind. Be prepared to change settings when the aurora starts to develop. I usually start with around ISO 800 - 1000, with 20sec exposure using a Nikon D7000, Tokina 11-16mm lens at 11mm, at f/2.8

On Friday aurora alerts kept coming through the day, no good for seeing anything in the night sky, and as darkness fell the strong winds F7 and cloudy skies did nothing to encourage me to go out

Shetland Hints and Tips

What can be seen in the Shetland Night sky- well nothing at present as it is too light. Harry Rose recently gave a very interesting talk, in which he indicated that providing you are not near a light polluted area you can actually see a lot in the Shetland night sky.

He showed the benefits of using binoculars either 8x40 which has a wide view or very high powered but tripod mounted version.

With so much to see in the sky, Harry recomended being as comfortable as possible, warm clothing and a good chair, even a deck chair or perhaps laying on the ground in a sleeping bag.

A massive amount of stars can be seen in these dark skies and he provided an insight into where and when to look for key star clusters. Knowing a few star groups such as the Plough, the Pole star Cassiopeia or Orion can be a great help in locating other star clusters and even the Milky Way.

It was interesting to hear about massive distances that would be necessary to travel across certain objects such as the Orion nebula, more miles than we can comprehend. That's not all, what we are looking at is the past as light travels slowly and it might be millions of year before the light from a star arrives on earth.

Harry explained everything in terms that everyone could understand, rekindling interests that have laid dormant in people for years. He was very enthusiastic about what could be seen in Shetland skies, much more than other places in the UK that have more light pollution.

The nights are now getting darker so it wont be long until we can all get out and start photographing the night sky

All about the universe in 55 mins

Last week I invited Mike Breimann down from Mossbank to Lerwick to give a talk on how the Universe was formed. This was aimed at some elderly folk with very little knowledge of Astronomy

 Mike, his wife Anna and friend Reg managed to fit the talk into a 55 min slot, not an easy job considering the type of information that needed to be delivered.

 With a mixture of power point  and models showing planets the talk was very well received. Mike could have easily gone on for several hours such is his knowledge and passion for the subject

It was one of the best talks i have been to, well thought out and easy to understand with plenty of humour as well to lighten the session

 Mike has a lot of skill in making models and although we didn't have time to see many i was able to see these after the talk. Many are connected to the landings on the moon and we will look forward to looking at these sometime in the new year.

Although there is little to see in the sky other than the moon due to the very light nights here in Shetland, he also commented on his Radio telescope and how he and other round Shetland are hard at work collecting valuable information.

Do take a look at his website at www.macastrofix.info

Missing stars

The other night I was speaking to a friend in Sheffield who had not noticed the stars until he went camping to Galloway forest Park Scotland early in the year. He said he just stood looking up at the stars for hours he was just amazed with what he could see, but since getting back to Sheffield he has started to miss these really dark skies.

It's difficult for some people, those moving from a dark sky in Shetland to a city swamped in artificial light, they really miss the stars. Looking the other way, people don't miss something they have never seen, and this is where many thousands of people fit

I wonder what Shetland was like 75 years ago this would have been a true dark site with many areas without electricity, the stars would have been amazing, but you wouldn't want people to have been with out power. they had small lights/lamps which would have just been sufficient to light the house.

During WW2 areas had to be dark otherwise they could be bombed, people managed although some people did die as a result of being knocked down etc. People's eyes did get used to the dark and although the slogan ` eating carrots make you see better' didn't really work, it was a nice thought.

Although our eyes adjust to the dark after about 10 mins just think how better it would be if we had to do it longer, some people seem to develop a 6th sense of where things are.

We missed out on an alert of a aurora at KP 8 a few days ago this came about mid afternoon when it was too light, but a few people managed to see it after midnight down in the south of England, it looks like we will have to wait until September comes along to see another Aurora as it gets lighter and lighter

I was talking to Robbie Brookes the other day, who is lucky enough to live in Unst a very dark site, or so you would  think, he still has to travel to Lamba ness above Haroldswick to ensure a completely dark sky, he has some great Aurora photos as a result.

On another occasion I was chatting to a visitor to Shetland who lived in the centre of London but couldn't drive (but who would drive in the centre of London) he cannot ever remember seeing a dark sky. His holidays are in the summer and work keeps him in London most of the time so doesn't come across dark skies. He moves from one light source to another in London, he said he is drawn to the bright lights and has never though about the dark - or what the attraction is !

                                                                                               Great Skies over Lerwick

Lights and brighter lights are an attraction in cities, but in Shetland they could easily cut out unnecessary light by turning half the street lights out after midnight, a lot of jetties are lit all night -whats the point. Shetland could gain a lot of tourists if it became more of a dark site then advertise this, yes we do get a lot of cloud , but winter tourism has been neglected except for up Helly Aa.  In America lots of people travel many miles to get to a dark site, i am sure it could be done here

Shetland remains the best dark sky site for me, the large open spaces & large skies make watching easier, we even get still clear nights sometimes. It must be a good place for space watching as Doctor Who and Darth Vader have settled in Shetland, what better recommendation.

                                                                                     The Tardis near Sullom Voe

We have now turned the corner and move away from the Simmer Dim and head towards autumn we can start to think again about dark skies, in the meantime its all about cloud gazing here, no problem with the wide vistas in Shetland.

Cloud and rainbows

We are so fortunate in Shetland in having large skies, not restricted by buildings or trees. This allows you to see a sky full of superb clouds. The weather is always changing and as a result it brings great cloud formations, you just have to keep looking up.

After the showers we also get many rainbows, some very strong colours. This makes up for not being able to see any Auroras at this time of year, normally it doesn't go dark until after 11 pm. They don't even turn the street lights on until 10.45 pm, this is the land of the simmer dim.

Too Light

Continuing on from last blog this map clearly shows how much light pollution could be seen either side of Sheffield


Spring ad Summer can be frustrating times for the astrophotographer with little dark time this side of midnight. Shetland has virtually 21 hours of day light with the other 3  hours classed as simmer dim when it never gets truly dark

How dark ?

With the days getting longer and longer ,opportunities to view the night sky in Shetland become very difficult. We are moving towards Simmer Dim when its virtually light all night, you can even read outside after midnight without a light.

Looking back on this winter you notice that the nights are actually darker than when we lived in Sheffield. There is still light pollution from Cunningsburgh and then further north to Lerwick. They missed an opportunity when they failed to replace the streetlights with LED lights which give a whiter light, not the orange glow usually associated with street lights.

Darker skies mean that you can see more stars especially when the moon is not showing



Save our Stars is an initiative to get people thinking and looking at astronomy visiting darker sites not the light polluted urban sites.

The Bortle Dark - sky scale  is the measurement of how dark the sky is. there are 10 sections to consider


Credit: Del Mar Fans

"http://www.delmarfans.com/educate/basics/lighting-pollution/" 



I would say that I consider Sandwick in Shetland to be class 2 - 3



There are few places in Europe that will be class 1 perhaps northern Scandinavia is the best spot, but Shetland away from Lerwick Scalloway and Brae do offer far better chances of a dark sky than the mainland England.



North America and Northern Europe are poor places for light pollution




Light pollution in Shetland mostly around  the central area and the oil fields out to the east.

Choosing a night which is as dark as possible will mean one with no moon. I have been surprised when talking to others about astrophotography that they think they need to light from the moon to take star photos, a natural conclusion when you think of normal day time photography.

I would highly recommend this book it really gets you thinking !




The Shetland Island council indicated in their document http://www.shetland.gov.uk/developmentplans/documents/LIGHTLEAFLETpdf.pdf  (2004)

that they intend to use lights that shine down like the LED lights but seem not to have taken this into account in the Cunningsburgh area.

When the Daily Telegraph listed the best sites for star gazing in the UK they failed to list Shetland although looking at the content they seem more to value what accommodation is available locally then the actual site


We can all help in reducing light pollution, do you really need all your lights on. One of our neighbors leaves all his room lights on all night another doesn't seem to have a sensor on his outdoor light. it worth checking out this site http://www.need-less.org.uk/ the Night Sky simulator near the bottom of the page, although for some reason they don't go any further north than Fair isle

While some may say they need light for safety reasons we  can easily reduce the amount we use and at the same time reduce our bills  . The SIC has now started to turn some street lights off at certain times, more to reduce costs.  Did you for instance turn your lights off for an hour at 20.30 pm on the last Saturday in March as part of Earth Hour ? this is a world wide event. The next time for Earth Hour is the 26 March 2016.