Solar and Aurora Activity Chat

[Sprites]

Aurora being picked up in southern England now.

[parhelion]

Sure I'd have a chance here had it not been for a band of showers just north of Sheffield, heading in a train west to east. Argh!

[Metwatch]

Think that's the aurora just about visible with a 20 second exposure on my Samsung, from the light polluted city of Coventry at 52N

Photos taken at 21:20 and 21:30 respectively.

Looks like North facing coasts of Kent and Norfolk have done quite well

Edited September 18, 2023 by Metwatch

[Sprites]

Pixel 4a 21.30

 

[Jo Farrow]

Went at 20:35 then back at 21:25 when it was purple! Looking over the Forth with an iPhone14+, my Samsung was showing some kind of psychedelic colour splat

[weatherobsuk]

My first attempt with the Pixel 7 Pro here in the western Peak District looking north, which turned out to be a bit of a fail as I wasn't expecting any Aurora to be seen tonight  so my settings preparedness was lacking. But right time, right place, right weather (before the shower clouds to the north rolled by).

I opted for the inbuilt Astrophotography option which gives 5s of shutter over a 4 minute period to combine the frames together, in hindsight I think doing it 5 seconds manually might have been more preferred.

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by toggerobz

[weatherobsuk]

Luckily i've just discovered the Pixel 7 Pro saves the 4 minute timelapse taken into a second or two video, and it looks like I just caught the tail-end of the Aurora this evening.

379522288_258684603803722_2089027328920890682_n

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Watch "379522288_258684603803722_2089027328920890682_n" on Streamable.

 

[Sprites]

A few photos from the 18-9-23 

The clouds stayed away long enough to get some shots 21.20-22.00. As it clouded up around 22.15 the Aurora levels dropped right back. 

 

 

[RebsAbbo]

Once again hopes were dashed - lots of tweets coming in from North York Moors last night & I’m in Glaisdale….just couldn’t see it & phone didn’t pick it up . Am I just missing out on timing or are cameras people are using enhancing it and actually in real life it’s not that clear to see?????

[Mary C]

Although I live in a rural area at 53.5°N I’m affected by light pollution from Liverpool and major A roads and motorways in Merseyside, West Lancs and Greater Manchester. I looked out at around 21:30 but unfortunately couldn’t see anything. I’m aware that there are significant differences in imaging between the human eye and cameras which may explain why photographs show a greater density of colours in Auroras than is seen by the naked eye. Also, the weather was windy with variable cloud cover and sharp showers…it was a long shot, I know.

[Mary C]

11 hours ago, Jo Farrow said:

Went at 20:35 then back at 21:25 when it was purple! Looking over the Forth with an iPhone14+, my Samsung was showing some kind of psychedelic colour splat

Beautiful photos Jo. It’s great to see the less common colours of purple in all the photos and blue in the top one.

[Sprites]

2 hours ago, RebsAbbo said:

Once again hopes were dashed - lots of tweets coming in from North York Moors last night & I’m in Glaisdale….just couldn’t see it & phone didn’t pick it up . Am I just missing out on timing or are cameras people are using enhancing it and actually in real life it’s not that clear to see?????

Cameras can collect a lot more light than we can see. If your phone has a night setting it should help, and some thing to hold your phone still. I didn't see anything last night, with 15 second exposure the camera collects more light.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Sprites

[RebsAbbo]

21 hours ago, Sprites said:

Cameras can collect a lot more light than we can see. If your phone has a night setting it should help, and some thing to hold your phone still. I didn't see anything last night, with 15 second exposure the camera collects more light.

Thank you so much, learned something new! Had a play last night but didn’t pick anything up. As no one else seems to have posted (here or twitter…can’t be arsed to call it ‘X’ )… I assume the aurora wasn’t very active last night. But major thanks for helping on the camera tech

[Sprites]

1 hour ago, RebsAbbo said:

Thank you so much, learned something new! Had a play last night but didn’t pick anything up. As no one else seems to have posted (here or twitter…can’t be arsed to call it ‘X’ )… I assume the aurora wasn’t very active last night. But major thanks for helping on the camera tech

Last night it was picked up in Scotland, but it was not very active.

This tripod and phone mount seems ok for the price. I'm not sure what phone you have. Or how much you can spend on a tripod. 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/JOILCAN-Aluminum-Extendable-Lightweight-Smartphone/dp/B09XJT7FP8/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?adgrpid=53301619916&hvadid=578501116784&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1006589&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8748376829658417389&hvtargid=kwd-301659729010&hydadcr=9317_2197695&keywords=tripod+for+smart+phone&qid=1695197342&sr=8-3

 

YouTube tips Aurora with phone. 

Works the same for UK....

 

https://www.spaceweather.com/

https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/

Edited September 20, 2023 by Sprites

[Sprites]

Any clear skies ?

AuroraWatch UK · AuroraWatch UK

AURORAWATCH.LANCS.AC.UK

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See the aurora borealis from the UK

 

[Weather-history]

Caught the aurora on my timelapse last night

 

[Sprites]

3am phone photo

 

 

[Jamie M]

2357 BST last night from here in Herne Bay

[HighPressure]

I wonder if the aurora is related to Sun Dogs? My son took these images today in South London :

[Pixel]

1 hour ago, HighPressure said:

I wonder if the aurora is related to Sun Dogs? My son took these images today in South London :

Fab pix! - Your son has a good eye for noticing, capturing and composing these brief sights - Refraction is so underrated 

[Weather-history]

5 hours ago, HighPressure said:

I wonder if the aurora is related to Sun Dogs? My son took these images today in South London :

No connection

Auroral colours are due to the excitement of atoms/molecules in the upper atmosphere.

Sundogs are just the refraction of sunlight through ice crystals.

[Sprites]

Part of 22 degree halo yesterday, sundogs not so bright as above.

[Jamie M]

Real time video of the aurora last Sunday during its first outburst

[Weather-history]

Graeme Whipps

 

 

[Allseasons-Si]

Lapland not long ago