This was an unexpectedly great night of aurora-watching – unexpected because we were not really expecting a huge amount of activity this evening, but an increased solar wind, negative Bz and favourable interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) combined to give a great show. And for once Iceland was not cloudy! We did have quite strong winds though, which affected photography later in the evening. Some images from the night are provided below showing the progression of the aurora as it changed form and intensity over the duration of the evening.
Image 1 (1645). 22:10 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 9.3 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 3. 22:14 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 5.2 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 4. 22:24 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 9 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 5. 22:28 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 13 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 6. 22:54 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 16 sec. Looking north-east.
Image 7. 22:56 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 2.6 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 8. 22:57 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 5 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 9. 23:00 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 4.8 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 10. 23:01 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 4.8 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 11. 23:02 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 6 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 12. 23:05 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 5.2 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 13. 23:06 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 8.2 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 14. 23:06 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 11 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 15. 23:16 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 9.4 sec. Looking north/north-east.
Image 16. 00:04 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 18 sec. Looking east. Blurry trees due to wind but showing the widely-spread (to overhead) patches and streaks of aurora that persisted for much of the night after the intense action earlier.
Image 17. 00:13 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 12 sec. Looking up! Aurora overhead as pulsating patches and streaks. Blurry trees due to wind!
Image 18. 00:29 UTC. Taken at: ISO = 1600, f/2.8 @ 14 mm, exposure = 17 sec. Looking south-east, showing the wide band of overhead aurora. Blurry trees due to wind!
