New Years Eve saw the return of enhanced solar winds from a coronal hole that has been present on the sun for the last few rotations. There were clear skies in south-west Iceland although the bright full moon washed out some of the aurora display. However, we had moderate activity for much of the evening, primarily concentrated in the north at 20 to 50 degrees altitude and varying from a low arc to some rayed bands. In the early hours of 1st January the activity was stronger and several rayed curtains danced across the northern half of the sky after 01:00 UTC until I went home at 01:40. A series of images showing activity over the course of the evening are shown below.
Image 1. 22:16 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 10 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 2. 22:21 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 7.4 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 3. 22:22 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 9.3 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 4. 22:24 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 4.8 sec. Looking east.
Image 5. 22:30 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 6.3 sec. Looking north.
Image 6. 22:36 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 6.8 sec. Looking north-east.
Image 7. 22:56 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 5.4 sec. Looking north.
Image 8. 23:15 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 7.6 sec. Looking north.
Image 9. 23:19 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 7.3 sec. Looking north.
Image 10. 23:23 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 6 sec. Looking north.
Image 11. 01:23 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 5.6 sec. Looking north.
Image 12. 01:28 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 7.5 sec. Looking north.
Image 13. 01:30 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 8.7 sec. Looking north.
Image 14. 01:31 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 8.2 sec. Looking north.
Image 15. 01:37 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 7.3 sec. Looking north.
