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Aurora Display - Oct 11th

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martinastro
Martin Mc Kenna
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« on: October 11, 2010, 11:32:30 pm »

Here's a few images from this evening's aurora display, shot from Tirkane and the last from Glenshane. Display lasted approx 1 hour with first sighting at 20.24 BST. Vivid green band visible with naked eye 100 degrees long and 15 degrees high extending from N to NE from Canes Venatici/Ursa Major into Auriga. The camera picked up the red colour above the green which was not visible to me. 18mm, ISO1600, 40-60 sec's, had trouble with fog and car headlight beams due to all the mositure in the air.







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paulster78
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« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2010, 03:44:50 am »

These are great, congratulations on catching this display Martin, the last shot from Glen Shane with the road leading in is my fav  Smiley
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markt
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« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2010, 07:29:53 am »

Brilliant stuff Martin!  Cool  I'm off to Iceland in 10 days so hopefully will have some aurora pictures myself to share weather permitting.
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brianb
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« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2010, 11:04:49 am »

I didn't see anything ... wasn't looking till approx. midnight as I was otherwise occupied ... what I did see was increasing "flickering" of the dark sky background but not localised in direction, eventually it dawned on me that this was the effects of light pollution on the underside of a very thin but variable layer of stratus cloud ... eventually by 4 am this thickened enough to put an end to observations.
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martinastro
Martin Mc Kenna
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« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2010, 04:02:57 pm »

Cheers guys, pity it only lasted 1 hour but it felt much longer at the time, the 'traffic lights' aurora charts never let me down, they were showing amber for mid lats while the other charts showed a small green oval nowhere near N. Ireland, however the former was correct, the latter not. Oct to Dec is always a good time for auroras, had the display lasted any longer I would have drove to the N coast, I know of another observer who saw auroral curtains from Portstewart last night around 22.00 BST. It was the brightest aurora I have seen this year but just a shame there where no vertical rays/beams visible with the naked eye, I feel there will be better displays to come this year, perhaps that current filament on the Sun will erupt and put on a bigger show for us all. Stayed stunned.
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Paul
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« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2010, 07:01:20 pm »

Excellent catch Martin, and shown on the TV by Angie this evening. No chance at my location - stars only visible straight up, way too hazy around the horizon, and couldn't even find Hartley in the 15x70s - you did the right thing getting higher up!

Paul.
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martinastro
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« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2010, 08:02:25 pm »

Thanks very much Paul, I did indeed go to higher ground as low levels were bad with mist and fog so I got lucky before the sky got worse later. I tried out Tirkane, Glenshane, Culnady but only the former two delivered the goods. I caught BBC Newsline and saw that Angie had used it so I was happy about that as I honestly didn't expect to get it on  Smiley. Good job the aurora isn't tonight - worst fog of the season in progress, observing looks to have gone out the window tonight!
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JohnC
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« Reply #7 on: October 13, 2010, 10:49:39 pm »

Lovely shots,Martin. Be interesting to see what Mark gets in Iceland in 10 days time.
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martinastro
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« Reply #8 on: October 13, 2010, 11:25:55 pm »

Thanks for the comment John!, and best of luck to Mark further N, there's always something cooking aurora-wise up there, hope you get some great shots!
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DaveH64
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« Reply #9 on: October 14, 2010, 12:27:10 am »

Superb set Martin, was at work when this happened and didn't realise it did until your post. Thumbs Up for those captures.
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martinastro
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« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2010, 04:02:38 pm »

Thanks very much Dave!, I hope the next event is more widespread across the UK so that others can snap it, there's a possible CME impact expected on the 16th I think, would need to double check that.
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