AR 2786 is massive, in fact 3 times bigger than the Earth and still growing. Hoping we get some solar wind to create an Aurora
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 was good to see some large sunspots appear this week. These AR2871 are from the new cycle 25 and that means we should be getting more as we progress to solar maximum.
These spots are over 62,000 miles long and it is expected to last over 2 weeks.
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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You don't always need a telescope to see or photograph the planets. If you know where to look you can find them
We have had a good run of Aurora nights but the problem has been nearly a full moon
It has been a good run of Aurora in Shetland , six nights on the trot. The main problem with Monday was the moon
