Very strange Fiona. There are lots of photos on FB from various parts of Scotland. Think they were seen all over England and Wales and as far south as Georgia, USA.
I've still never seen it either, and I don't think I ever will at home. One of my granddaughters lives only about 6 miles from me and she put a picture of it on Facebook last night, but when I looked out - nothing! I think the problem here is light pollution. If I look towards the north from the back of my house I am looking over a town just a couple of miles away.
Some reports say you should look through a camera lens or your phone camera, it’s not always visible with the naked eye. I’m signed up for notifications from AuroraWatch & got nothing last night. But photos on BBC news from Antrim & Renfrewshire, both face north & we face west.
I’ll certainly look again tonight!
I’ve checked online newspapers & it seems I needed to drive 40 mins up the Clyde coast last night to see them, even with street lights in the foreground.
Oh dear. No 6pm G&T tonight then!
Think I'm in the 'snowflake in hell' group with no chance of seeing it from home! Apart from the mass of light pollution looking across London obscuring most sky objects/phenomena in general, looking North from my house I'm looking directly past two street lights and pretty much through the arch of Wembley stadium which was brightly illuminated Red and White 'cos of the football match yesterday! Then of course, there's a general 'fug' in the air thanks to the pollution from Heathrow that takes the sharpness out of any view! As a photographer, I know from experience that the light pollution 'glow' of London wrecks all night time photography of the sky, so even that isn't going to work for me!
Got friends in Essex, just north of London who took some impressive photos, thanks to their much darker skies, so the Aurora was no doubt there to be seen this far south, but not with London 'in the way'!
Bit miffed really, would really like to see, and photograph it, but resigned to that never being from home unless ALL the lights in London go out! I've also got to travel quite a distance to anywhere that isn't blighted by London's lights and fug, so can't just 'pop up the road a bit' for a better view!
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 11/10/2024
Got friends in Essex, just north of London who took some impressive photos, thanks to their much darker skies, so the Aurora was no doubt there to be seen this far south, but not with London 'in the way'!
One of our Granddaughters lives on the outskirts of Harlow, just over the border from us, and the pictures she took were quite amazing for this far south. Even though we live in a Hertfordshire village, there is no chance from here either. Lights from a nearby town are right in the way. The back of our house faces north but the sky is nearly impossible to see. The only thing we can usually see is the planes circling the village to line up with the runway at Stansted. They are about 3 minutes away from landing when coming in from this direction.
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 11/10/2024
Got friends in Essex, just north of London who took some impressive photos, thanks to their much darker skies, so the Aurora was no doubt there to be seen this far south, but not with London 'in the way'!
One of our Granddaughters lives on the outskirts of Harlow, just over the border from us, and the pictures she took were quite amazing for this far south. Even though we live in a Hertfordshire village, there is no chance from here either. Lights from a nearby town are right in the way. The back of our house faces north but the sky is nearly impossible to see. The only thing we can usually see is the planes circling the village to line up with the runway at Stansted. They are about 3 minutes away from landing when coming in from this direction.
That's where my friends live too - so there is an upside to living in Harlow, who'd have guessed!
Never seen it in my life until this past month when I've been lucky enough to see it three times - twice on a recent holiday to Shetland and then at home in Worcestershire.
The best way to view it is through a camera lens, it's much more colourful, and take a photo on at least a 3 second setting with a tripod if possible (although I got some amazing pictures on my phone with no tripod).
On Shetland the Aurora was pale and 'wispy' to the naked eye but orange and green through the lens, and a couple of days ago there was just a faint red pink and green tint in the sky to the naked eye. There's lots of light pollution near where I live but I still saw it.
The irony is that I'm going to Iceland in January and since I've booked that trip I've seen it three times!
This is the veiw from my garden, the light pollution doesn't help but it's not a bad picture from the middle of a town.
You can see some stars in that photo, so it’s not too bad for light pollution.
Hurtigruten does cruises up Norway from UK where it’s guaranteed you’ll see the aurora. During normal waking hours (eg not at 0200), passengers are alerted if the Northern Lights are visible, and the engine is cut so there’s no vibration to spoil the photos. Friends saw them almost nightly, a long-time ambition fulfilled.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: The aurora
via mobile 11/10/2024 at 8:03am
