An Aurora run

 

On the 4 November a very powerful aurora showed, just a pity about the cloud

It was so strong that the whole sky lit up behind the cloud

It wasn't until i went down to St Ninians that the colour started to show in the gaps. It was an ideal night to be out, mild, still and no moon

St Ninian's isle was beautifully lit by the aurora

The aurora was even viewable to the south, not a normal occurrence.(above)

Moon and Jupiter

The moon and Jupiter came close on the 2 October and with reasonably clear skies i was able to get a few photo

I went down to Scatness broch near Sumburgh runway and with the Moon and Jupiter low down i was able to link them with the landscape

After i went to Sumburgh head using the old Muckle Roe lighthouse to link the two planets to the Shetland landscape

 

My first Shetland Aurora of the season

 The 12 September will be remembered by many for the superb colours and aurora activity, that is if you stayed up beyond midnight.

I was out a few hours before and it was still good and we had clear skies as well. Two many be three arcs came over and it seem to be more active in the east for a change

Sept/October are always good months for the aurora and we have already had several good displays with loots more to come.

Coastguard helicopter returning to Sumburgh

It was good to meet up with Tom Jamieson who lives close by, a fellow Sony user.

If want to see more from the night join Shetland Aurora Hunter

Sunspots during August

Managed to photograph the sun over a three day period so far this month. Only on 1 day did the sunspot number fell below 100 sunspots

 

The conditions are not always good enough to get a clear photo, make sure you don't look directly at the sun and use a solar filter to protect your sensor. Only use live view don't look through the viewfinder.

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Spiggie Moonshine- Shetland

A bit of aurora low to the right

 

The sunspots

As the sun becomes more active as we head to solar maximum we will see more sunspots on the surface.

up to this point there has been 88 consecutive days where over 100 sunspots have been visible

The sunspot below is massive, more than 4x the size of Earth. Sunspots can grow or decline quickly so its important to record the date and time photographs are taken
 

Domnt forget, dont look or photograph the sun without the proper solar filters otherwise you can damage your eyes or sensor on your camera

Jupiter and Venus

Conjunctions are always nice to see, this was from a few months ago when Jupiter and Venus was close together

Nice to see Jupiter's moons