Possible auroras tonight.

[Rickshaw Phil]

The sun has been quite active recently and I often keep an eye on spaceweather.com for updates. It seems that (at the time of writing) there are currently coronal mass ejections from six solar flares on the way to us and that a G4 class geomagnetic storm started at roughly 4.45GMT this afternoon.

In my part of the world this is probably the best chance of seeing auroras for a few years once it goes dark. Best of luck if you have clear skies and a view without street lights.

 

[Donger]

Thanks for that, Phil. I've just arrived at a lodge near Keith in Morayshire, and there are rare clear skies for the next couple of days. I'll nip outside every half hour or so and see if I can catch a glimpse. It'd save a packet on air fares to Iceland for that bucket list experience.

 

[stephec]

Just been out in the back garden but it's a bit too murky to see anything.

 

[Donger]

Are they generally better the darker the sky gets? (i.e. later at night). BBC news suggesting they have already been seen in Kent. One odd thing is that we are so far North that the remains of the sunset are lingering on the horizon to our NNW at the moment. I watched the sun go down and assume that to be about a WSW direction in these latitudes. It is messing with my sense of direction.

 

[classic33]

Are they generally better the darker the sky gets? (i.e. later at night). BBC news suggesting they have already been seen in Kent. One odd thing is that we are so far North that the remains of the sunset are lingering on the horizon to our NNW at the moment. I watched the sun go down and assume that to be about a WSW direction in these latitudes. It is messing with my sense of direction.

Yes. Sunset was just above the 300° mark, NWbyW.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

My first time seeing the northern lights and all I can say is wow!

Not the best pics as my camera is a bit old now but these were some views from Lyth Hill:

 

[MontyVeda]

there's a good dark spot up near the castle where i'll saunter to see a meteor shower, so headed there hoping to see some aurora on the horizon. There wasn't. But turning around and facing south there was quite clearly some aurora going on high in that there sky
I don't think my phone got anything more than blackness but the local FB group is flooded with nice pictures.

 

[Donger]

Wow! A few shots taken at around 11.30. I always thought you had to look North, but this lot appeared in the sky to the East and South East of us, streaking away from the direction of the last remnants of dusk which was to our NNW:

No moving lights, just shafts of colour, but still amazing to see. Neither of our cameras picked up a thing, but the camera on my wife's phone captured that lot. Nipped out again just before midnight and saw this lot looking due West!

Lovin' it. We might drive out to the coast of the Moray Firth at Cullen tomorrow night to see if we can get an unimpeded view across the sea. Wierdly, though, it seems looking North might not be the thing to do up here in the far North.

 

[craigwend]

 

[Drago]

Good view here about half an hour ago.

 

[tyred]

I saw them tonight for the first time. Quite spectacular even though I wasn't in a great location due to surrounding light pollution in a town.

 

[MontyVeda]

....
Wierdly, though, it seems looking North might not be the thing to do up here in the far North.

I was out for a quite a while, perched on a slab in a cemetery (I'm not a goth) facing north before i realised people behind me were facing south and looking up. Great photos though. Mine were just all black. I should have taken the proper camera and tripod.

 

[tyred]

 

[MontyVeda]

I saw them tonight for the first time. Quite spectacular even though I wasn't in a great location due to surrounding light pollution in a town.

I'm in the middle of a town too and it was mightily spectacular because people were literally stood under street lights looking up and going... blimey, it's the northern lights!

There's just Betelgeuse left on my eyeball astronomy bucket list now

 

[Donger]

Also saw 3 or 4 satellites, a shooting star and (I think) the ISS passing by. I was also hoping at least one of the photos would have come out with a silhouette of a bat flitting about in the Northern Lights, but I'll settle for what I managed to get.