Galaxies for Fun Astronomical CMOS and CCD photos of peculiar galaxies and other astronomical stuff.
www.galaxies.se - by Ivar Hamberg
Geomagnetic Storm of Aug 12-13, 2024:
During the Perseid meteor watch we had a nice "distraction" by a magnificent aurora. My wife and I observed from southwestern Sweden along the coastline just between the cities of Falkenberg and Halmstad. Kp was around Kp6, and the lights were mostly at north and sometimes up to zenith. I took some 260 images with my Canon EOS Ra and a fisheye 8-15mm f/4. Colors were rather strong. Bortle 4 sky and no interfering moon. Several Perseids and some sporadics were observed.
Video: 00:29-00:36, local time.
Geomagnetic Storm of Aug 17-18, 2024:
A late summer Aurora in the archipelago! A nice Kp6 type outbreak on Aug 17, 2024 was observed from Stora Timrarön. Although the sky was not really dark, we had a nice view towards north. All colors from green-yellow-(orange)-red to violet and blue. Not so strong, but nice reflections in the water!
BELOW is a 1 min compressed SEQUENCE from 23:29 to 23:57 local time (21:29-21:57 UTC).
Canon fisheye at 8mm f/4.
ALSO: A shorter 36 second SEQUENCE from 00:00 to 00:03. (22:00-22:03 UTC).
Canon fisheye at 15mm f/4.
The Great Geomagnetic Storm of May 10-11, 2024:
What a magnificent show! The Aurora was the strongest in many many years!!
The 3 hours mean geomagnetic Planetary index Kp was around 8 to 9 most of the night.
The 30 min Hpo30 index showed values of 8 to 11!! (Also called Hp30.)
Note: Kp is limited to max 9, but Hpo30 and Hpo60 is open ended with no upper limit.H=(half)Hourly p=Planetary o=Open ended.) (Kp=Planetarische Kennziffer=Planetary Index.)
The activity was ongoing all night. I took some 200 photos with my Canon EOS Ra and Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens. I was out at my summer house and observatory at Timrarön, north of Stockholm. The night was somewhat hazy with some drifting clouds, and there was remaining twilight all night since the sun was only some 12 degrees below the horizon during this early summer night, id est No astronomical night (18 degrees).
I observed:
Local Time: 23:30-02:30 local time (summer time).
UTC Time: 21:30-00:30 UTC.
Comment: The Nautical night is when the sun is at least 12 degrees below the horizon. This was 23:22-02:03 local time, or 21:22-00:03 UTC.
BELOW is a 1.5 min compressed SEQUENCE from 00:24-00:38 local time (22:24-22:38 UTC). This is EXACTLY during the Hpo30=11 PEAK at 22:30 UTC!
Data from:
https://kp.gfz-potsdam.de/en/
Video Sequence 22:24-22:38 UTC
Kp index is at 9.
Hp30 index goes up to 11!
Below: Northern lights observed in Umeå on the night of September 4-5, 2022:
The geomagnetic Planetary index Kp was around Kp6 most of the night. The activity was ongoing all night.
Data from:
https://isdc.gfz-potsdam.de/kp-index/
Time in UTC. Kp0-3 Green, Kp 4-6 Yellow, KP7.- Red
Time lapse sequences:
Here are some medium resolution (reduced resolution) time lapse videos from the observation session. Most of the photos are taken with a Canon EOS Ra camera, with OWB filter, and a Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens at f/4. Generally 2-4 sec exposure and 6400 ASA..
Northern lights in the City: On March 17-18, 2015, we were lucky to witness some very strong Aurorae as far south as Stockholm. They appeared after a strong CME -Coronal Mass Ejection- and southward pointing interplanetary magnetic field Bz. It was the strongest in many years. The first image is from Södermalm, and over the Old Town in Stockholm. Anna and Oliver Fleetwood joined me on this memorable occasion. The other photo is a strong outburst over the roof tops and over a chimney. It was taken by Anna Fleetwood.
