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Established
16/3/2000 |
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Northern Lights over Ireland, July 16th 2000
The
aurora at its peak in the northern half of the sky. You can probably
see Ursa Major (The Plough) towards the right, and the bright
star near bottom left is Arcturus in Bootes.
July
16th, 2000:
Aurora
Borealis can quite often take the amateur astronomer by surprise.
At the time of solar maximum, when the sunspot activity is at
climax, the sun emits powerful eruptions of electromagnetic
radiation which spurt out into space, sometimes in the direction
of Earth. On this occasion, a powerful auroral display ensued
over Ireland and parts of Europe. Solar storm warnings had been
issued, and this July storm followed one in April which amazed
and enthused backyard astronomers all over the British Isles.
Notice
the deep blue hue of the auroral display. Colours ranged from
purple to blue, to cobalt and there was also a hint of green as
can be seen above. Previous displays had been more red in colour,
so this one was unusual.
The
display started at approximately 00:30UT and lasted until nearly
02:00UT on July 16th. The full moon in the sky helped to illuminate
some patchly high cloud (above) which added some interesting effects
to the photographs.
All
photos were taken with a Nikon F90 camera, 18-35mm f3.5 Sigma
lens, on Fuji Sensia 400 Slide Film. Slides were scanned on an
Agfa Arcus Duoscan.
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| The aurora at its peak in the northern half of the sky. You can probably see Ursa Major (The Plough) towards the right, and the bright star near bottom left is Arcturus in Bootes. |
| July 16th, 2000: Aurora Borealis can quite often take the amateur astronomer by surprise. At the time of solar maximum, when the sunspot activity is at climax, the sun emits powerful eruptions of electromagnetic radiation which spurt out into space, sometimes in the direction of Earth. On this occasion, a powerful auroral display ensued over Ireland and parts of Europe. Solar storm warnings had been issued, and this July storm followed one in April which amazed and enthused backyard astronomers all over the British Isles. |
| Notice the deep blue hue of the auroral display. Colours ranged from purple to blue, to cobalt and there was also a hint of green as can be seen above. Previous displays had been more red in colour, so this one was unusual. |
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| The display started at approximately 00:30UT and lasted until nearly 02:00UT on July 16th. The full moon in the sky helped to illuminate some patchly high cloud (above) which added some interesting effects to the photographs. |
| All photos were taken with a Nikon F90 camera, 18-35mm f3.5 Sigma lens, on Fuji Sensia 400 Slide Film. Slides were scanned on an Agfa Arcus Duoscan. |
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