David's Astronomy Pages (All Sky Camera) Aurora on night 2025-03-17 / 2025-03-18

Aurora 2025-01-21

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Aurora 2025-03-19

Aurora

Notes

Night Summary (Keogram) Plot AllSky Pictures Videos Magnetometer Stack Plots (for reference) Planetary K-Index Plot (for reference) Aurora Forecast, NOAA/Ovation (for reference)

- Weak auroral activity on the night 2025-03-17 / 2025-03-18 associated with geomagnetic activity up to KP3 to KP4. Skies in NE Scotland were generally clear but with passing cloud.    Weak activity was visible on camera images  23:20 to 04:30 UT. Peak activity at around 23:35 to 23:50 UT. Observed activity comprised weak auroral glow an occasional arc to 6° and occasional moving curtains and rays to 10° altitude. The aurora display was recorded using the Observatory's new Tapo C325WB Colour Night Vision Camera, with images processed in real time by a new AstroColorCam program built for handing the frames captured by iSpy. Images and video below compare colour images captured by the new Camera, with the black/white images captured using the existing AllSky Camera at approximately the same time.   -  Scandinavia magnetometers recorded spikes in activity at 19:45, 00:00 & 02:00-03:00 UT.     - Telescope Images from 2025-03-17 >> -

Night Summary (Keogram) Plot

Night Summary Plot - North Sky (2025-03-17) Times on plot are local times (GMT  = UTC +00h ) Weak aurora noticeable against bright moonlit sky at around 23:00 to 21:15 and 22:30 to 00:15 UT

Night Summary Plot - North Sky (2025-03-17) Times on plot are local times (GMT  = UTC +00h ) Aurora not obvious on b/w keogram due of the cloudy intervals

Scandinavia Magnetometers vs NorthCam Keogram - 2025-03-17 / 2025-03-18

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Pictures (AllSky Camera)

Panoramic View - Northern Sky

2025-03-17 23:31 UT (GMT) Faint green aurora glow along along nothern horizon

2025-03-17 23:37 UT (GMT) Aurora arc brightening quickly with curtains developing.

2025-03-17 23:38 UT (GMT)  Bright green curtain & ray in NNE direction on NorthCam Image (top) also visible on AllSky Image (bottom)

2025-03-17 23:42 UT (GMT)  Aurora gradually covered by passing cloud.

2025-03-18 00:10 UT (GMT) Skies clear again, activity weakening to a faint green & red glow in northern sky.

2025-03-18 01:44 UT (GMT) Aurora activity along northern horizon on NorthCam image (top) with faint green curtains and rays,  with red rays in NW direction Activity is barely detectable on AllSky Image (Bottom)

2025-03-18 02:15 UT (GMT)  .Continuing weak activity

2025-03-18 03:35 UT (GMT)  Continuing weak activity

2025-03-18 04:29 UT (GMT) Continuing weak activity

15s frames taken with Tapo C325WB Colour Camera vs 30s wider-field exposures taken with Oculus All Sky Camera

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 Videos  - Under construction

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Magnetometer Stack Plots (for reference)

Magnetometer Stack Plots from Scandinavia (ordered by latitude) H Component - 2025-03-17 / 2025-03-18 Strong spikes in activity at 19:45, 00:00 & 02:00-03:00 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)

Graphed using 'make your own graph' facilities at  https://flux.phys.uit.no/compose/   (Tromsø Geophysical Observatory  ) Original data from Tromsø Geophysical Observatory (TGO), DTU Space (Technical University of Denmark) and Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) Data also displayed on SpaceWeatherLive's Europe Stackplot at  http://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/auroral-activity/magnetometers).

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Planetary K-Index Plot (for reference)

Estimated 3 hour Planetary K-Index (NOAA)  (from http://services.swpc.noaa.gov) Planetary-k-index_2025-03-17 / 2025-03-18 Not captured

SAMNET's magnetometer at Sumburgh, Shetland  (Chart Explanation)  - Activity on the night 2025-03-17 / 2025-03-18   showing slightly raised acivity at 19:00 to 20:00, 23:00 to 00:00 and 02:00 to 04:00

8-day Lerwick Observatory K Index Showing max K4 on the evening of 2025-03-17 / 2025-03-18

Planetary K-Index and other information (Space Weather Prediction Centre) shows Kp3 on night of 2025-03-17 / 2025-03-18

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Aurora Forecast, NOAA/Ovation (for reference)

Aurora Forecast for 2025-03-17 22:56 UT (GMT) (From Space Weather Prediction Centre,  http://www.swpc.noaa.gov )

Aurora Forecast for 2025-03-18 02:57 UT (GMT) (From Space Weather Prediction Centre,  http://www.swpc.noaa.gov )

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