Aurora Borealis
With an early moonset and clear conditions forecast for the evening ahead, the aurora alert I received at around 19:00 got me moving pretty quickly. After some internal debate I decided to go to my usual spot above Midmar kirk, a drive of some 40 minutes or so. I arrived at around 20:30 and could immediately see that there was a strong green wash across the northwestern sky, visible to the naked eye. Disappointingly there was some cloud around but this was low to the horizon and confined mostly to the north.
I got the camera and tripod set up and soon was firing off a few shots. Even with a short 10 second exposure the aurora was bright green on the screen. A short while later I noticed a faint ray or two creeping into view.
Throughout the evening I tracked activity using Andy Stables excellent app. It seemed that after an initial strong burst it was tailing off. I took a couple of panoramic shots and then as the display waned slightly, decided to pack up and head off - the temperature was close to freezing and I was slowly losing feeling in my fingers.
I headed off at around 21:40, having enjoyed more than an hour under the lights. Although the display was not particularly bright to the naked eye, it was rewarding to be out there under a starry sky, the occasional set of headlights on a distant road the only signs of movement on an otherwise calm night.
Back at home it seemed like the activity picked up again and between around 22:30 and 23:00 photographers caught some excellent photos of a much more active display. Graeme Whipps has posted this excellent photo on Flickr.