Last night a solar storm hit Earth producing one of the strongest auroras of this solar cycle. Unfortunately for me, a misty evening drowned out much of the show. All but for 20 minutes when the silent display flared up strongly enough for me to catch a glimpse…

While not as spectacular as last years aurora, I prefer the composition of the photo. Especially with the trail of car lights illuminating the foreground, giving the scene some depth. The shot below shows the extent of the low hanging mist, which scuppered things further by amplifying the nearby light pollution.

Details: Nikon D7000 with Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. One minute exposures at 11mm, f2.8 and iso 400.

A week earlier I had taken a photo of the sunspot responsible for the aurora while testing out a lens setup for the partial solar eclipse which will be visible from the UK on Friday the 20th of March.

Details: Nikon D7000, Nikon 300mm/f4.5 ED-IF Ai-S (at 600mm with 2x converter) with Hoya ND400 filter. 1/8000’s at iso 100.

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