Category: Aurora

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Congratulations to Honor Wheeler, Simon Dawes and Neil Webster for having their images selected and shown at the British Astronomical Association AGM on the 28th October 2026.

Honor's images were of the Partial Solar Eclipse on the 12th August 2026 & the Partial Lunar Eclipse on the 28th August 2026.

Simon's image was of the Aurora taken at Kelling Heath on the 10th October 2026.

Neil's image was of the Moon taken on the 27th October 2026.

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Last night Aurora was spotted over the UK and 2 CMHASD members managed to image it through the clouds. 

Apparently the CME, X1.9 'Halo' solar flare that sparked this aurora took only 25 hours to reach Earth! Usually CME'S take 3 to 4 days!

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The 1st image on the right was taken by member Honor Wheeler from Dartford using a Canon M6II, Rokinon 12mm lens, set at ISO800, f8, and 6sec.

Honor said 'The aurora was difficult to see visually but my camera picked it up. A lot of light pollution reflecting off the clouds also didn't help but any aurora seen from home is a nice, unexpected bonus.'

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Member Martin Crow from Burnham - on - Crouch, Essex managed to capture some images of the Aurora through gaps in the cloud on his iPhone. On the right are 2 of his images.

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On the night of the 10/11th October 2024 several CMHASD members all over the UK looked up at the sky and watched in amazement at another Aurora display!!!!

Below is a slideshow of a presentation that CMHASD member Sonia put together showing some of the stunning images members had taken that night.  Some of the photographs taken by members show vivid colours but to most naked eye observers the colours were not so obvious due to light pollution.

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Like many of the stars we see in the night sky, our own Sun is a variable star. Its activity waxes and wanes, peaking every 11 years in a phenomenon known as the Solar Cycle.

As it approaches this peak we see more dark sunspots appear on its face, and some of those sunspots can grow to huge sizes, becoming larger than our own planet.

Recently an ink blotch trail of sunspots ten times the size of Earth appeared on the Sun, so big it was even visible to the naked eye through solar eclipse glasses and was a stunning sight through telescopes fitted with solar filters.

As it developed, this sunspot group began firing off powerful solar flares, again and again, like a WWII battleship firing a broadside.

And when a sequence of these flares was directed towards Earth, astronomers who study space weather became very excited at the prospect of enhanced auroral activity in the night sky once the solar material reached Earth.

They predicted that, if everything went well, the evening of Friday 10 May 2024 might see an impressive display of the Northern Lights, perhaps even one of the largest for years.

Even though there was no guarantee of seeing anything, aurora-watchers crossed their fingers and made plans to go aurora-hunting after sunset that evening. Ref:https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/aurora-10-may-2024

So on the night of 2024 May 10/11 several CMHASD members all over the UK looked up at the sky in anticipation and finally at around 10.30pm watched in amazement at an Aurora display. 

Below is a slideshow of a presentation that CMHASD member Sonia put together showing some of the images members had taken that night and 3 time lapse videos too.  Some of the photographs taken by members show vivid colours but to most naked eye observers the colours were not so obvious due to light pollution.  

[ngg src="galleries" ids="83" display="basic_slideshow"]Time lapse videos by Honor Wheeler.

[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://crayfordmanorastro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Aurora_TimeLapse20240510_HW01.mp4"][/video]

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Time lapse video by Martin Crow.

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Member George Buckberry's sister Val Hicks went on a cruise up to the North of Norway in November this year and has kindly shared her photos with us of the stunning Aurora display that she saw.  Some truly beautiful images :-)

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image by Jim Burchell 11/07/20. Image's taken with a pentax K70[/caption]

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image by Jim Burchell 11/07/20. Image's taken with a pentax K70 comet is C/2020 F3 NEOWISE[/caption]

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In March 2000, Jean and Brian Felles along with Terry Miles and Chris Wallace also went to Alaska with Explorers. Below are featured a further nine stunning aurora photos from Jean and Brian.

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In March 1999 two members of the Society, Rita Whiting and Val Stoneham, joined the Explorers Tours trip to Alaska to see the aurora. Below are just four of the many stunning pictures they took.

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