PSA: aurora on red alert

Glendale App is not in any app store. Only available from the website. The world’s most accurate aurora app.
https://aurora-alerts.uk/

although its currently struggling under heavy traffic.

No one can really tell. I use an app ‘Aurora Watch UK’, but word of warning, set the threshold level to red.

I took my photos with the phone, using night setting, which meant about a 3 second shot. Interestingly the Google photo editing it offered after made the photos worse

Incredible display lay in bed watching it for about an hour, full display of colours visible by eye.

In May when it was supposedly very good, I couldn’t see it with the naked eye. I was really surprised next day when locals were posting spectacular pictures. All down to photo enhancement I thought. So I was a bit sceptical last night. Until I went outside about 9pm!

We live out in the sticks in the Shropshire hills AONB. It’s normally really dark. Not last night though, the sky was ethereal, really weird. It got progressively more colourful until about 11 when it tailed off. But reds and greens and movement of patterns very visible with the naked eye. Awesome. Phone pictures on night shot made the colours a little more vibrant, but it was pretty dammed good without. Bucket list experience ticked off.

It got progressively more colourful until about 11 when it tailed off.

Same here, then it went bananas just after midnight – compare the two sets of photos (page 5 and page 6) I posted to see the difference

note @tech, what happened to the ability to link to a specific post, that was always really useful? “just” need an anchor tag with the post ID so we can link and the scroll to that post, pls?

Am I the only underwhelmed person on the thread? Isaw it too last night for the first time and have photos like the above.

At least I think I saw it. My phone clearly did. I was aware of a very vague possible glow my more aurora experienced mates assured me was it. 

Ah well. I’ve never seen starwars either. Maybe that’ll be good? ??

It was stunning in Aberdeenshire. I’ve seen hints of green before (and had some great phone pictures) but last night was something else. It was almost too bright for the phone camera to pick up the colours.

Almost like sunset at some points but with alien colours.

First time (in the 16 years we’ve lived out here in the sticks) that it’s been that bright – or that it’s been that bright and combined with no moon and clear skies.

It was variable though. 9pm it was just a few green streaks (still cool) – pic is an hour later.

So pleased to catch it this time, pics from back garden on edge of Gtr Mcr:

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Not really visible to the naked eye in North Yorkshire but the diffuse glow was bright enough to not need a torch when walking around areas with no street lighting. Looked good on the camera though.

Too much cloud here and missed May’s show despite being in the perfect location.

Hopefully get another good opportunity before having to wait a decade.

I got a few pics last night from the south Lincolnshire border. Similar to many of the above ones, with some decent star detail in them.

Something for Google Pixel users to take into account – if you get the phone on a tripod of some sort, or even just lent up on a wall and put it into Night Sight, after a few seconds the symbol will change to Astrophotography mode. It will then take up to a 4min exposure where it takes multiple long exposures & merges them. This works really well.

I have a cheap phone tripod mount from Amazon (small enough to fit in my pocket) and use it with either a lightweight Velbon tripod or a small Gorillapod. You can get great results with these.

Peak activity could be any time – follow the aurora watch app and it shows the strength, but from last night, it was about 800 from 8pm, then dropped to 500  and below about 10-11 (but we got some good pictures then) then it did a sudden peak at over 1500 after midnight.

I’ve just ordered a phone tripod via Amazon for delivery this evening.  Just wish we could find my wife’s decent Panasonic Lumix camera. My son has two SLR’s though.

Never thought to use the actual camera  – it’s sitting there waiting to be sold, but while I still have it MI might try again if it’s high tonight. I just used my iPhone

Just wish we could find my wife’s decent Panasonic Lumix camera. My son has two SLR’s though.

I could be wrong, but I think phone night photography is more developed than proper cameras as they enhance the picture.

I should have got my DSLR out to see how it compared, however that would have been a lot more faff. To be fair on my pics what you saw with the naked eye was only just more muted than the camera pic.

What I did find was that when you were wondering if it was Aurora ie the naked eye wasnt that clear then the camera definitely did enhance.

Found the MetOffice space weather forecast page

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/specialist-forecasts/space-weather

fossy

I’ve just ordered a phone tripod via Amazon for delivery this evening.  Just wish we could find my wife’s decent Panasonic Lumix camera. My son has two SLR’s though.

nbt

Never thought to use the actual camera  – it’s sitting there waiting to be sold, but while I still have it MI might try again if it’s high tonight. I just used my iPhone

I took some pics on my SLR as well as my phone last night. It’s an old Nikon D80 which on a bright day will still take great pics and the phone can’t compete when taking shots at the end of a long zoom lens.
But – the pics aren’t really comparable to the phone for what I captured last night. I had the ISO up to 800 with the lens as wide as it would go, but it still needed 20s for an under-exposed image. And 20s is really too long as you start to see movement in the stars.
I guess with a newer SLR where you can crank the ISO up and not lose too much quality, it would be more comparable, but my phone takes exposures over 4mins and stitches them together and there’s no messing about.

I am not even sure how you would do that with an SLR as you would still get movement of the stars over the time period and if you moved the camera to track the stars you would probably get an even more smudged view of the colours in the sky.

You are probably right @FunkyDunc. My daughters iphone 14 took a great picture, only because by accident we were looking through the screen and saw a really clear streak. It’s not got the advanced picture of my S23 Ultra, but in the few seconds I took to then get my phone, the ‘streak’ had dispersed.  If you’ve got the settings right, you can see the aurora through the screen before you take the photo. I somehow managed this for a take before I messed the settings up.  I’ve seen some pictures from a professional photographer I know and they are amazing, but for us lot, phones seem to do a fabulous job.

Propper James Bond aren’t they now !

Last night’s display was stunning and easily visible to the eye at just before 10PM in a really light polluted bit of Essex looking East. In fact it was so bright that the 3 second ‘night site’ mode on my Pixel was getting oversaturated.

I stood outside watching it awestruck for 2 hours or so, it was just mesmerising.

Thanks for all the wonderful photos.

I too never thought I’d see these clear vibrant colours with the naked eye. It was definitely worth going back into my attic workroom again after midnight. Also saw a superb bright shooting star through the red. What a happy thing to witness.

Is there a best setting on iphone?

I was just doing it where it takes a 3 second long image

Also saw a superb bright shooting star through the red.

We saw a couple of those as well, just magical.

I could be wrong, but I think phone night photography is more developed than proper cameras as they enhance the picture.

For the most part all phones do is hold the shutter open longer to gather more detail, then do some clever stuff with local enhancements to bring the exposure up.

I can do the same with my camera, but get a lot more detail and control over the final image.

You can tell when a phone has done processing as the overall image looks smudged – the colours are really bright but there is a softness to it all. A camera with a much larger sensor can gather more light, so is more capable of getting the individual movements of the aurora because a shorter shutter speed can be used.

Last night my phone struggled to get anything, but with a 1 second shutter speed on my camera I got a shot or two.

Like a significant percentage of the male population, I’m colour blind. So I stood on a beach in Northumberland last night whilst my wife gasped at the display whilst I was getting overeating bored and cold. I saw different shades of light but nothing exciting at all.

I seem to be the only person in the world whose photos make it look less good than it was! I was so lucky, only noticed the fb updates, alerts etc late on and so ended up going out about 11pm which was bang on the peak here. Ended up in an ideal spot by mistake- the place I went to is a bit blocked out for northern views but has low light pollution, but in the end the display was actually more in the south and just incredible directly overhead, I didn’t plan for that in the slightest. Froze my baws off but again by luck bailed pretty much just as it dropped off.

I’ve seen the lights from here a bunch of times but usually just vague greenness. This wasn’t hugely bright but it was everywhere. Incredible.

https://imgur.com/a/vWjK0c1

I’ve got to agree with the other posters on here. Before last night I was sceptical that you could see it with the naked eye and wondered why people got so excited about “artefacts” on their phone cameras. But yeah, after last nights display I’m happy to admit that I was wrong.

Phone photo looking North East

Phone photo looking North west past my nephew

Went a bit bonkers up here in Dundee last night. Cracking show.

Just realised. This event was October 10th and the previous major event was May 10th, exactly six calendar months ago.

Wierd coincidence or can we blame the US election?

Five months not six ?

can we blame the US election?

Or your calculator? 😉

MadBillMcMad
Full Member

Just realised. This event was October 10th and the previous major event was May 10th

I was in the highlands for the last one, staying in a wee hut thing in the middle of nowhere with perfect dark skies. Slept through it all. And it’s very unkind of you to bring it up.

Anything forecast for tonight?

We’ll be camping somewhere very dark and the forecast is cold and clear skies… ???

Not sure about the aurora but there’s a possibility of seeing a comet that’s not been visible from earth for 80,000 years…

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/oct/11/comet-a3-last-seen-in-neanderthal-times-could-be-sighted-from-uk-this-weekend

Comets don’t look like that.

Quite pleased with these shots I took of a rather fancy Trek Madone on Thursday night here in the Lakes

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The Aurora was easily the best I’ve ever seen it, with bursts of colour clearly visible to the eye

Is it just me or does it seem to happen quite regularly now? People used to go on holiday to Iceland to go and see it. Now you can see it from the comfort of your garden numerous times throughout the year.

Well, twice this year. Previous to this I did once see it in Grizedale Forest about 18 years ago, but I wouldn’t call it regular

Is it just me or does it seem to happen quite regularly now

The sun goes through a cycle of about 11 years and we’re around a maximum at the moment. That means it’s chucking out a lot more charged particles so there’s more chance of seeing an aurora.

Comets don’t look like that.

Really?