David's Astronomy Pages (All Sky Camera) Aurora on night 2024-05-10 / 2024-05-11

Aurora  2024-04-30

Aurora Page

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Aurora 2024-08-27

Aurora	Notes
Picture Processing Notes Pictures (South, East, North, West, 360°, AllSky, Telescope) Videos Night Summary (Keogram) Plot Magnetometer Stack Plots (for reference) Planetary K-Index Plot (for reference) Solar Wind & Interplanetary Magnetic Field Plots (for reference) Aurora Forecast, NOAA/Ovation (for reference)	- Major auroral activity on the night of 2024-05-10 / 2024-05-11 associated with Kp 9 (G5) geomagnetic conditions. Skies in NE Scotland were partially clear and saw significant activity for most of the night, with aurora most significantly developed in the southern sky (as opposed to the northern sky where aurora are normally seen). Activity was visible from the Clair Observatory (+57N)  over a 4.5 hour period from 2024-05-10 21:22 to to 2025-05-11 01:50 UT (22:22 to 02:50 LT). -  Scandinavia magnetometers for around the time of the storm show very high activity in magnetometers readings from 17:05 to 04:00+ UT and continuing intermittently the following day.      - Telescope Images from night 2024-05-10 >>

Picture Processing Notes

The original pictures & videos created on the night used standard settings (Default Contrast, Default Gamma Level) & employed a Virtual Moon Mask  (picture i. below).    These are appropriate for a normal AllSky monitoring, but aren't neccessary ideal for night with bright aurora.

As the Moon (in NW) was at only 10% phase and was the mask was hiding part of the Aurora,  the Pictures & Videos presented on this page have been re-processed without using a Moon Mask and using custom contrast/gamma settings to show the detail in the Aurora slightly better (picture ii. below)

A software modification to the Observatory's AstroAllSky program is needed to show aurora detail in the very bright 'washed-out' regions which occur during periods of highest aurora activity.   Raw images indicate that detail has been captured in brightest area, but something like square root scaling is then needed to bring out the detail in the fainter areas  (pictures iii. & iv. below).

The following four AllSky pictures compare the effect of using i) standard settings (top) ii) custom contrast/gamma with no moon mask (upper middle) iii) full black-white range (linear scale) with no moon mask (lower middle) iv) full black-white range (square root scale) with no moon mask (bottom) (all created from image #1825082, taken at 2024-05-10 22:50 UT (23:50 LT) )

Similarly the following two 360° Panoramic pictures (again both for image #1825082, taken at 2024-05-10 22:50 UT (23:50 LT) ) compare the effect of using i) standard settings (top) ii) custom contrast with  no moon mask (bottom)

Reprocessing of entire set took 19 minutes (excluding DIFF images)

Notes on 'Ventilation Hole Modification to AllSky Camera , 2023-11-15'

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Pictures

Panoramic View - Southern Sky

2024-05-10 21:22 UT (22:22 LT)  - Southern Sky First signs of auroral activity in southern sky at 22:22 Local Time, barely detectable due to bright twilight sky. Sunset in W / WNW sky

2024-05-10 21:37 UT (22:37 LT)  - Southern Sky Auroral arc gradually becoming visible in southern sky,  with rays in E sky

2024-05-10 21:38 UT (22:38 LT)  - Southern Sky Auroral arc developing,  with faint rays in SE to SW sky

2024-05-10 21:46 UT (22:46 LT)  - Southern Sky Auroral arc developing,  with diffuse rays and interesting 'aurora cap' feature

2024-05-10 21:54 UT (22:54 LT)  - Southern Sky Auroral arc gradually brightening,  with ray like structure

2024-05-10 22:02 UT (23:02 LT)  - Southern Sky Auroral arc brightening significantly

2024-05-10 22:08 UT (23:08 LT)  - Southern Sky Auroral rays heading toward zenith

2024-05-10 22:13 UT (23:13 LT)  - Southern Sky Major brightening of aurora (saturating the image over a wide region)

2024-05-10 22:25 UT (23:25 LT)  - Southern Sky Auroral rays heading to zenith across entire E-S-W sky

2024-05-10 22:34 UT (23:34 LT)  - Southern Sky Auroral activity across entire southern sky (E to W)

2024-05-10 22:50 UT (23:50 LT)  - Southern Sky Major brightening, saturating the 30s image across entire southern sky

2024-05-10 22:56 UT (23:56 LT)  - Southern Sky Brightness starting to decrease in south direction but continuing in SE-ESE and SW-WSW irections

2024-05-10 22:57 UT (23:57 LT)  - Southern Sky Brightning in W direction

2024-05-10 22:58 UT (23:58 LT)  - Southern Sky Brightest activity in  E,W direction (activity shifting to northern sky)

2024-05-10 23:00 UT (2024-05-11 00:00 LT)  - Southern Sky Activity continuing to decrease in southern sky (the margin of bright activity in 'northern sky remains visible in W direction)

2024-05-10 23:04 UT (2024-05-11 00:04 LT)  - Southern Sky Relative dimming of aurora in S sky, but still very active in ESE and in SW direction

2024-05-10 23:15 UT (2024-05-11 00:15 LT)  - Southern Sky Patchy activity across entire southern sky

2024-05-10 23:25 UT (2024-05-11 00:25 LT)  - Southern Sky Varied activity across entire southern sky, brightest in ESE. Cloud developing

2024-05-10 23:47 UT (2024-05-11 00:47 LT)  - Southern Sky Bright acivity in E and W directions,  activity moving northwards Cloud thickening

2024-05-11 00:31 UT (01:31 LT)  - Southern Sky Aurora activity continuing but partly hidden by cloud Cloud thickening

2024-05-11 00:36 UT (01:36 LT)  - Southern Sky Aurora activity continuing but hidden to varying degrees by cloud, rays in SW & W directions stretching up towards zenith

2024-05-11 00:41 UT (01:41 LT)  - Southern Sky Varied aurora activity across entire southern sky.

2024-05-11 00:56 UT (01:56 LT)  - Southern Sky Aurora activity across entire southern sky.

2024-05-11 01:10 UT (02:10 LT)  - Southern Sky Aurora activity continuing

2.96s to 25.1s exposures, followed by 30s exposures taken with Oculus All Sky Camera

Panoramic View - Eastern Sky

2024-05-10 21:37 UT (22:37 LT)  - Eastern Sky

2024-05-10 22:08 UT (23:08 LT)  - Eastern Sky

2024-05-10 22:08 UT (23:08 LT)  - Eastern Sky

2024-05-10 23:04 UT (2024-05-11 00:04 LT)  - Eastern Sky

Panoramic View - Northern Sky

2024-05-10 22:05 UT (23:05 LT)  - Northern Sky First signs of auroral activity in northern sky at 23:05 Local Time Rays in NNW to NNE direction to 30-40 deg altitude,  Rays are just visible in the otherwise bright sky associated with sun lying below northern horizon. General auroral light in W and E directions.  Moon in WNW/NW Sky

2024-05-10 22:18 UT (23:18 LT)  - Northern Sky Rays visible across entire northern sky.  Partly hidden by twiglight sky associated with light from the sun lying below northern horizon.

2024-05-10 22:23 UT (23:23 LT)  - Northern Sky Rays becoming increasingly visible as the sky darkens Moon (10% Phase) visible in twilight sky in NW sky

2024-05-10 22:29 UT (23:29 LT)  - Northern Sky Rays becoming increasingly visible as the sky darkens Moon (10% Phase) starting to descend behind cloud

2024-05-10 22:34 UT (23:34 LT)  - Northern Sky Bright rays in NE-E sky.  Moon (10% phase) hidden by cloud in NW direction

2024-05-10 22:34 UT (23:34 LT)  - Northern Sky Rays across northern entire sky Cloud developing in NW Sky

2024-05-10 22:56 UT (23:56 LT)  - Northern Sky Rays across northern entire sky Cloud developing in NW Sky

2024-05-10 22:58 UT (23:57 LT)  - Northern Sky Start of dramatric brighting of sky across/towards zenith (begins in West)

2024-05-10 22:58 UT (23:58 LT)  - Northern Sky Dramatric brighting of sky across/towards zenith

2024-05-10 23:00 UT (2024-05-11 00:00 LT)  - Northern Sky Activity fading in in north direction but still bright in W-WNW & ENE directions

2024-05-10 23:06 UT (2024-05-11 00:06 LT)  - Northern Sky Aurora dimming relative to above image, taken 8 minutes before. Rays visible in NNE - ENE direction

2024-05-10 23:12 UT (2024-05-11 00:12 LT)  - Northern Sky Bright rays in W and NE directions

2024-05-10 23:37 UT (2024-05-11 00:37 LT)  - Northern Sky Rays in W-NW and E directions

2024-05-11 00:28 UT (01:28 LT)  - Northern Sky Rays in W-NNW direction. Bright activity in ENE - E direction

2024-05-11 00:30 UT (01:30 LT)  - Northern Sky Bright aurora in W and E directions. Rays visible in WNW to N direction

2024-05-11 00:30 UT (01:30 LT)  - Northern Sky Fine rays in W to NNW direction

2024-05-11 00:43 UT (01:43 LT)  - Northern Sky Rays in W to NNE direction, bright aurora lights in ENE-E direction

2024-05-11 00:48 UT (01:48 LT)  - Northern Sky Aurora brightening , particularly towards zenith and in NE-E sky

2024-05-11 00:59 UT (01:59 LT)  - Northern Sky Bright aurora continuing. Nice rays in north direction

2024-05-11 01:11 UT (02:11 LT)  - Northern Sky Very bright aurora continuing. Nice rays in north direction

2024-05-11 01:48 UT (02:48 LT)  - Northern Sky Aurora continuing but increasingly hidden by cloud.

30s exposures,   taken with Oculus All Sky Camera

Panoramic View - Western Sky

2024-05-10 22:23 UT (23:23 LT)  - Western Sky

2024-05-10 22:50 UT (23:50 LT)  - Western Sky

2024-05-10 22:56 UT (23:56 LT)  - Western Sky

2024-05-10 22:57 UT (23:57 LT)  - WesternSky

2024-05-10 22:58 UT (23:58 LT)  - Western Sky

2024-05-10 23:00 UT (2024-05-11 00:00 LT)  - Western Sky

2024-05-10 23:04 UT (2024-05-11 00:04 LT)  - Western Sky

Panoramic View - 360 deg Sky

2024-05-10 22:08 UT (23:08 LT)

2024-05-10 22:34 UT (23:34 LT)

2024-05-10 22:50 UT (23:50 LT)

2024-05-10 22:54 UT (23:54 LT)

2024-05-10 22:56 UT (23:56 LT)

2024-05-10 22:57 UT (23:57 LT)

2024-05-10 22:58 UT (23:58 LT)

2024-05-10 23:00 UT (2024-05-11 00:00 LT)

2024-05-10 23:29 UT (2024-05-11 00:29 LT)

2024-05-11 00:48 UT (2024-05-11 01:48 LT)

AllSky View

2024-05-10 22:08 UT (23:08 LT)

2024-05-10 22:24 UT (23:24 LT)

2024-05-10 22:50 UT (23:50 LT)

2024-05-10 22:54 UT (23:54 LT)

2024-05-10 22:56 UT (23:56 LT)

2024-05-10 22:57 UT (23:57 LT)

2024-05-10 22:57 UT (23:58 LT)

2024-05-10 23:00 UT (2024-05-11 00:00 LT)

2024-05-10 23:07 UT (2024-05-11 00:07 LT)

2024-05-10 23:43 UT (2024-05-11 00:43 LT)

2024-05-11 00:48 UT (01:48 LT)

2024-05-11 01:10 UT (02:10 LT)

30s exposures,   taken with Oculus All Sky Camera

Aurora Effects on Telescope Imaging

Whilst the Aurora produced a lovely display the quality of Telescope Images acquired during the night suffered due to the often bright & uneven sky background.

62P/Tsuchinshan - 2024-05-10 (passing through Virgo) Sun Distance 1.99 AU (receeding) Linear Scale 25000-31000 ADU Background Sky Value 29020 ADU    62P/Tsuchinshan - 2024-05-10 Detail Comet 62P is receeding and will naturally be fainter than earlier observation in March 2024 but observation is not helped by the bright aurora sky The light signal associated with comet is less than the sky noise and the comet can't be seen.   Annotated CCD Image (50% size, square root scale) 4 x 90s exposure (average combine), 3x3 binning, Clear Filter 2024-05-10 23:00 UT (#1216024-27) 12" LX200R (at f/10.4) + ST-10XME Auto-guided using TS 80mm APO, ZWO ASI178MC & PHD2   Annotated CCD Image (100% size, square root scale, cropped) Image details as left       62P/Tsuchinshan - Earlier Image 2024-03-28 (passing through Virgo) Sun Distance 1.67 AU (receeding) Linear Scale 6340 - 7340 ADU Background Sky Value 6427 ADU    62P/Tsuchinshan - Earlier Image 2024-03-28 Detail   Annotated CCD Image (50% size, linear scale) 6 x 90s exposure (average combine), 3x3 binning, Clear Filter 2024-03-28 00:12 UT (#1201027-32) 12" LX200R (at f/10.4) + ST-10XME Auto-guided using TS 80mm APO, ZWO ASI178MC & PHD2   Annotated CCD Image (100% size, square root scale, cropped) Image details as left

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 Videos

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Night Summary (Keogram) Plot

Night Summary Plot - North Sky (2024-05-10 ) Times on plot are local times (BST  = UTC +01h ) Keogram plot affected by cloud and bright twilight sky after dusk) Aurora visible on keogram at various points through night  (main activity was in southern sky which is not visible on this north sky keogram

Night Summary Plot - North - South Sky (2024-05-10) Times on plot are local times (BST  = UTC +01h ) Keogram plot affected by cloud and bright twilight sky after dusk. Aurora visible on keogram at various points through night in both north & south sky

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Magnetometer Stack Plots (for reference)

Magnetometer Stack Plots from Scandinavia (ordered by latitude) H Component - 2024-05-10 / 2024-05-11 Activity in magnetometers readings at 17:05 to 04:00+ UT Original data from Tromsø Geophysical Observatory (TGO), DTU Space (Technical University of Denmark) and Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI, displayed on SpaceWeatherLive http://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/auroral-activity/magnetometers). Note: Geomagnetometer activity at rvk (Rorvik, 64.95N), dob (Dombas, 62.07N), sol (Solund, 61.08N) and kar (Karmoy, 59.21N) stations are used as indicators for potential auroral activity that may be visible from my Observatory situated at latitude 57.32N  (Map of Stations)

H Component - Composite Plot,  2024-05-10 / 2024-05-11 Activity in magnetometers activity from 2024-05-10 17:05 to 2024-05-11 21:30+ UT (Click on Image for full size view)

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Planetary K-Index Plot (for reference)

8-day Lerwick Observatory K Index Showing a KP 9 (G5) spike in the night of 2024-05-10 / 2024-05-11

SAMNET's magnetometer at Crooktree, Near Torphins  (Chart Explanation)  Showing a large spike in activity starting at around 2024-05-10 17:00 and lasting to after 2024-05-11 04:00+.  Peak activity at 01:00

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Solar Wind & Interplanetary Magnetic Field Plots (for reference)

Solar Wind & Interplanetary Magnetic Field (NOAA)  (captured from https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/archive/2024/05/10/aurora.html  using data from NOAA - SWPC ) 24 hour period from 2024-05-10 00:00 UT to 2024-05-11 00:00 UT Times are most-likely Spacecraft Observation Times (?) and quite probably record events ahead of their arrival at Earth itself.

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Aurora Forecast, NOAA/Ovation (for reference)

Aurora Forecast for 2024-05-10 21:30 UT (From Space Weather Prediction Centre,  http://www.swpc.noaa.gov )

Aurora Forecast for 2024-05-11 01:31 UT (From Space Weather Prediction Centre,  http://www.swpc.noaa.gov )

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