It was difficult to be sure what was happening in the sky this evening due to lots of cloud, but after seeing nothing for most of the night then the aurora appeared through the clouds at around 22:30 UTC (19th). We saw much stronger activity appearing at 22:50 UTC and stopped to take some images.
This was a very dark night around the new moon, but during the strongest burst of aurora at 23:06 then the bright light was sufficient to illuminate some of the foreground (Images 1 and 2). At the same time a rayed band of aurora was forming in the north – the purple ray tops can be seen in the bottom right corner of Image 2. I stayed at this location until 23:25 but the auroral activity was mostly to the north during the remainder of the session, with several bright bands showing behind the cloud in the northern sky (Image 3). Another evening of being slightly frustrated by clouds.
Image 1. 23:06 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 16 sec. Looking west.
Image 2. 23:07 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 15 sec. Looking west.
Image 3. 23:16 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 24 sec. Looking north.
