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It seems that 2024 is the year which just keeps on giving geomagnetic storms. I will jump straight into this one, we had two CMES inbound, the first was due to impact on Tuesday September 11th and the next on Thursday September 13th, I never did have a good vibe about the first one, it seemed weak and sure enough with the exception of a brief enhancement to the solar wind it was a non event. However the September 13th CME looked like such a good hit based on NOAA models with moderate solar wind speeds and the forecast was for clear skies too for the first part of the night in my area until 01.00 or later so things were lining up for an interesting event.
As usual it all came down to CME timing, it was meant to hit late in the evening which was good for us in Europe however it took us all by surprise by arriving earlier than expected during the late morning of the 13th. This was both good and bad, good because it meant that the CME was moving faster than expected, and bad because it hit during daytime for us, which meant waiting at least nine hours until twilight to have a chance of seeing it, in most cases I would expect the storm to have waned or be gone by the time darkness arrived here so the daytime hours were spent with great uncertainty. NOAA had forecast a G2 storm at its peak and sure enough G2 was reached, then by late afternoon it evolved into a G3 storm which far exceeded expectations, now this was getting very exciting, a G3 was fully capable of large rays and colours with the prospect of more exotic structures such as Coronae, SARs and STEVE.
At this stage I was pumped up for a good aurora shoot and had a very good feeling this was going to produce, that's if it could just hold out for a hours more then this would be in the bag. I decided to document this event from Co. Tyrone within the Sperrins between Beaghmore and Davagh Forest, I didn't have much time for planning and wasn't going to venture too far due to cloud issues later in the night so this was going to be a local shoot. Several friends expressed interest in joining me in the same area so a decision was made to return to what Roisin and I call 'The Fairy Tree'. You may recall I captured the May 10th G5 aurora over this tree, I really was pleased how that worked out so this would work again even though I don't like going to the same location for aurora so soon but it was the only foreground scene of interest to me so I would just have to make it work.
Darkness arrives earlier now in September so I planned to be on location during twilight at 21.00, I packed the gear and hit the road and within 25 min's I had arrived on location. Aurora chasers Paul Martin and Colleen Webb where already on site prepping gear and checking the sky. Before I left the house a short time earlier I had one last look at the charts, KP7, G3 storm with Bz at -22, all brilliant, I was actually expecting to see beams in the twilight before it even got dark. The moon was waxing gibbous, just a day or so after first quarter phase but very low in the S, it wouldn't be too much of an issue at all and would set at 23.30.
I got chatting with Paul and Colleen, we were all quietly buzzing with anticipation of what was to come, then Colleen checked the charts one last time, the Bz was -4, the IMF was beginning to change into a less promising orientation, we couldn't believe it, it actually looked like everything was downgrading, even the solar wind was dropping in speed. We began to get a bad feeling, we just assumed the Bz was bouncing like it had done earlier and no doubt would come back again soon, or at least that's what we tried to tell ourselves. In truth we were not liking the vibes and voiced our view that the storm might actually be over. We stood around for a while as the stars came out, Paul took an exposure to the N which showed a very weak aurora, just a glow to the NE, actually really pathetic, this was turning into quite the let down. Then a car pulled in beside us, it was John Fagan from Irish Aurora Chasers and his brother Neill which now made five of us on location aurora hunting.
We chatted for a while and killed some time sky watching. The ISS made a pass across the sky, several nice meteors too, I did a dome search of the naked eye constellations and a visual check on the position of Blaze Star TCrB, all quiet, then Paul took more exposures which showed the auroral glow was getting a little stronger. We decided we may as well make it into the field to get the tree framed up just in case the aurora came to life any minute and soon all of us where standing in this quiet field starring at the fairy tree. It was dead calm and very cold, in fact, the first proper frost of the season was forecast and we were already getting chilled in the crisp air. Humidity levels were 86% so I was concerned about dew/mist forming over my lens so I attached two hand warmers which would leep the lens mist free for hours, now it was just a matter of waiting.
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First exposure of the night, a low band was visible to the eye, white in colour with a diffuse hazy glow above it, but the majority of inexperienced star gazers would probably not even notice it, perhaps mistaken for the lunar opposition effect. On camera it looked really beautiful with contrasting green and purple colours, I began shooting a time lapse, I decided if nothing major was going to happen then I might as well get something from this night. We stood around for a couple of hours in the developing frost talking about the sky and having some friendly banter, anything to keep our minds off the cold and the reality of no big aurora.
We watched and waited and waited some more, we were all disappointed to be honest but at the same time we all knew from experience that this is exactly why we love nature and aurora hunting. If it was easy it would be boring, nature always refuses to be predicted and likes to keep us humble and on our geomagnetic toes. We also knew that the tables can turn fast and the aurora could suddenly show, this was why we were holding out, the promise of a sudden outburst, all we needed was five minutes and a couple of images and we could all go home happy.
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Then after what seemed a very long wait a very faint but tall ray appeared to the naked eye, at last some structure, was she about to erupt? maybe the long awaited outburst was about to happen, we were all poised at the ready, then the ray faded and was gone and we were back to a glow. It was nice but we needed better, John and Neill decided to call it a night as they had an early rise in the morning, it was good to see them out again, we said farewell then Paul, Colleen, and I hung around for a little longer. We decided to get more from this night, we could shoot some Milky Way scenes once the moon had set, this was a great idea for getting photo opportunities with the tree.
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We all shifted position facing W/NW, the orange moon was setting on the horizon and the Milky Way was beckoning, I took my first exposure and was shocked, there was a faint but very obvious SARs arc on the image, I thought I was imagining things so I took another exposure and it was still there, it was the real deal. Little did we know this entire time that SARs was in the sky, here it is as a red beam extending upward at an angle from behind the fairy tree, passing through Ophiuchus and Hercules then cutting into the Milky Way in Cygnus. Once we got dark adapted we could faintly see it with the naked eye as a colourless bar of light, even the auroral glow looked stronger on the images too. Quite a cool scene with tree, aurora, Milky Way and SARS, something we never expected to see. By now we were all getting badly affected by the cold, our feet and hands were chilled standing on this cold grass for hours on end. Paul decided to call it a night too as he had an early rise as well, Colleen and I stayed on a little longer but the cold had got to us too, we decided to get out of the field and walk back to the dry solid road, the intention was we would be packing up for the night.
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It felt so good to get back on solid ground, we packed the cameras away into the cars, we intending on going home literally any moment however for some reason an instinct told me not to be too hasty. We chatted about the sky and tried to warm up then around 01.00 Colleen looked to the N and seen several faint rays. I saw them too, very interesting, was it trying? or just another false hope then back to a glow again?, I was almost too cold to take out the camera again for so little but I did anyway. Colleen said more beams were appearing, they were increasing in frequency and I was convinced they were getting brighter. I took this exposure from the road which revealed many more rays, I said to Colleen this might be going into outburst rite now, but what to do?, stay on this road to get it incase its short lived?, but I knew I would never be happy with the images with the telegraph pole in it, or take a chance and go back to the field? I said Colleen let's get back to the tree rite now, we grabbed the cameras and literally ran down the country road, over the gate and into the field then ran across the field to our earlier position, I felt warmer after that run.
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We just had time for a few test images to line up the tree when this happened. The aurora erupted into a major outburst rite in front of us, it was that fast, we were awestruck yelling into the night with disbelief and delight. Vivid vertical rays everywhere, all of them could be seen moving across the sky like ghosts from left to right, some of the rays became very slender and intense while others merged together into groups. The aurora was extremely photogenic and exceeded any of our expectations, I began shooting a time lapse again but this time I had no hand warmers on the lens so I was worried by lens could mist over any minute.
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I measured the rays at 60 degrees tall or 120 apparent full moon diameters, we had to look up to see the tops of them, the took up a good portion of the 15mm lens. We could see the colours easily to the naked eye, the reds and oranges were easy and sublime, to me the band looked a yellow-white however Colleen could see the green in it and the blue higher up. I was well pleased we went back here to get the tree framed up, I think the composition works very well, simplicity, isolation, clutter-free, let the sky dominate the scene, all the boxes were ticked for me.
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I remember this massive beam, it was a brilliant vertical shaft of light like a portal opening, the tallest and brightest of all the beams we saw this night, it even cut through the mist and low cloud rite down to the horizon.
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This show went on for at least 20 min's and what shocked us was that there was no indication on the aurora charts that anything exceptional was happening at all, it just goes to show you that charts don't mean a lot if you are not outside watching the real sky. The beams began to spread out in width, it was like watching a painting happening in real time. We felt so happy, after all those hours out in the cold then out of nowhere a major show which vindicated our night.
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Then finally the outburst waned somewhat, the rays became broad and diffuse however the low band seemed to take on more complex structure, then we had a fine mist moving through the field between us and the aurora which gave the sky a milky appearance. We were content and decided to call it a night, the grass was covered in frost, the tripod legs and camera bodies too, and the gate was slippery to climb over. When I turned on the engine the van was reading - 2 degrees C, we got quite a chill but it was worth it for this wonderful outburst so thank you Mother Nature for the treat. I felt for my other mates who had to go back home due to work commitments who missed this but I know their dedication will get rewarded next time, there will always be more auroras to shoot.
I'm anticipating more impressive auroras on the months ahead and also for the next few years, we may be in solar maximum rite now or else its still due next year, no one will know until the sunspot numbers are worked out in hindsight. If you are interested in auroras now is the time to tick it off your bucket list from Ireland/N. Ireland and if you want to get your own dream images from this country then don't hesitate to get that camera and start your own journey into this amazing aspect of amateur astronomy. Thanks very much for reading.