10th OCTOBER 2024: ANOTHER GREAT NORTHERN LIGHTS SHOW - AURORA BOREALIS SEEN AT DONCASTER.

 This year, our star, the Sun has reached a peak in its cycle. After the last 'Northern Lights' show, which was also astounding! To see another spectactulary display so soon was amazing. But the Sun is unpredictable at times and we are very fortuate at these low geographical locations to see such a bright Aurora. In fact the show was seen as far south in this country as Cornwall!

None of these photos has been enhanced in any form. What is shown on the photo is what we saw in the sky.

Camera settings: f2.7, exposure time 10secs, ISO 100, Camera on a tripod.

It looks as though the trees have burst into flames, but no, it's the Aurora in the northern sky!

Look at that curtain of green rising up!

My late wife was so entranced and excited by the intensity of the aurora that she was ring friends to report to them that they need to be outside, looking at this phenomina. I shall remember her joy at seeing this auroa for a very long time. 

The constellation of Cassiopeia atop this red curtain at the north!!

This patch of green overhead appeared to the naked-eye as a high cloud!

 We had been out in our back garden since 8pm the previous night. After a short break for something to eat, we went back out at 11:30hrs. The storm was still in full swing. 

But it soon became apparent after an hour, that the solar-storm was subsiding.

I took my camera and tripod around to the front garden to get an unobstructed view of the eastern sky and took a few photos. By 03:30hrs, there was only the fainest of purplish sky glow to the NE. The sky was still very clear and the stars were pin-point sharp.  

These are just a few of the very many photos I took. Note, to view these photos in all their glory, a PC/Laptop/phone with a glass screen will bring out the depth of the colours.

The viberent colours and movement of the aurora were stunning, colours of scarlet to red, greens and some blue. The Aurora was seen in the western and southern sky in addittion to the north and east where intensity was greater. I am so very glad my late wife saw this. Her excitment was heart-warming to see.

RJC

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16th AUGUST (MARS & JUPITER CONJUNCTION) 2024.

During August this year, the planets Mars and Jupiter were at their closest together in the night sky.

On 15th August 2024, the planets Jupiter and Mars were at their closest and just as this photo shows, could be seen with the naked-eye. But as usual in this country, the sky was cloudy on the morning of the 15th August. But the next morning, the sky was crystal-clear. I set-up my camera on a tripod and took lots of photos. As can be seen, Mars and Jupiter are quite widely separated and over successive mornings, would appear further and further apart as Mars on its closer orbit around the Sun than Jupiter, raced away. I have labelled a couple of bright stars, amongst the bbrightest in the sky as a comparrison to the planets Mars and Jupiter.

The photo below is the original image of the above before it was cropped and labelled.

Camera settings: Canon PowerShot, f2.7, 15sec exposure, ISO 100, tripod.

I also imaged the bright star Mizar, in the handle of the plough/Ursa Major. But this photo was done with my Nokia mobile phone, holding it to the eyepiece in an 8" diameter telescope.

Mizar is what is known as a 'Double Star'. If you have very good eyesight and the sky is exceptionaly clear, you can see two stars close together. These are Mizar A and Alcor. But look through binoculars or a telescope and you will see that Mizar is comprised of two stars: Mizar A & Mizar B. The stars physically orbit each other. They are what are known as 'Binary Stars', in astronomical parlance. As can be seen from the photo of Ursa Major below, Mizar & Alcor are readily identified. Ursa Major is located in the northern portion of the sky.

RJC

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