Fire in the Sky

[colinmlegg]

Amazing view of the aurora last night on the south west coast of Western Australia. I've tried a few times without success over here, so was chuffed to finally see it in WA.

My original site - Cozy Corner - started to cloud over around 5 pm, so I did a mad dash north to escape the cloud. Being very low ocean hugging stuff, I didn't have to go far... around 40 km. Final local latitude 34 south.

This is the view just after a KP 6 alert at 10:14 pm. Quite amazing and easily visible naked eye. I reckon it would have been visible from much farther north... maybe as far as Geraldton!! :)

[Larryp]

That's spectacular, Colin-great shot!

[Octane]

Words can't do this justice.

Mind. Blown.

H

[Paul Haese]

One of the best images of an Australian aurora I have seen. I suspect this will win something in this years Malins.

[alexch]

That's very impressive Colin! Glad you finally got a decent display of the southern lights.
I was chasing the weather but all I got was a few gaps in the clouds and rain.

Cheers,
Alex

[MrB]

Very nice Colin!
I was camping for a week in Nannup and only returned home Saturday, annoying.
I was fortunate to accidentally capture some Aurorae last time I was down there in June 2012, nothing as good as your shot though, love it!

[strongmanmike]

Well, that's rather special Colin, awesome :)

Mike

[ourkind]

Superbly stunning!! Beautiful!!

[iceman]

Damn that's good.

[Osirisra]

Jaw dropping shot!

Makes me home sick! Spent many a hour fishing at Cozy Corner and surrounding spots. Seen quite a few aurora when I was a kid down that way but never as stunning as this! Certainly didn't get to see it up here in Geraldton, been nothing but clouds here for days.

[MortonH]

Just beautiful!

[Fox]

Unbelievable! Fox

[h0ughy]

WOW to see it live and get a brilliant image - -first class

[StephenM]

One of the best I've seen Colin! Fantastic.

Cheers,
Stephen

[multiweb]

+1. A real inspiration. :thumbsup:

[LewisM]

THE best I have ever seen!!! Simply divine.

[mercedes_sl1970]

Wow... Superb image.

I'm curious about your setup, camera settings, etc.

Cheers

Andrew

[AstralTraveller]

Awesome, just amazing. It must have been great visually too. Best of all, you've even got smoke on the water. :lol:

[Ric]

Wonderful image Colin.

In a word SPECTACULAR.

[colinmlegg]

Thanks for the great feedback, guys :)

Just talking with Grahame Kelaher - he saw it from Lake Ballard @ 29 degrees south. So Geraldton probably would have seen it. Wow! :)

[colinmlegg]

That's a pity Simon. Maybe worth subscribing to M flare and aurora alerts in future? This one occurred on Friday and was predicted to hit Sunday.

I ended up near Contos. Not far from you :)

[lacad01]

So much to see in the one vista - excellent stuff :thumbsup:

[colinmlegg]

Ken, I saw a guy fishing off the rocks the day I was there. Lovely spot. I guess you'd know well the cloud that scoots up from Cape Leeuwin. It threatened to get me, so I moved north to Contos.

[MrB]

Will look into that.
The farm I stay at has zero internet and mobile reception, tho with Telstra I can just get a little reception If I walk up a big hill :lol:

[RB]

Awesome shot Colin !

[Pi]

WOW, I hope this gets into next years calendar!

[Nikolas]

Gobsmacked!

[Osirisra]

Sure do! there not many days with out cloud down that way that's for sure. Never see a cloud for hundreds of Km's then hit Mt Barker and bang! clouds galore.

[gregbradley]

You da man Colin!

Simply the best and that's saying something as we have seen some spectacular aurora shots on this site. I'd love to shot something like that.

Greg.

[apaulo]

Well done Colin

So good to see the aurora images appearing on this forum.

The curtains in the image look great.

Regards Paul.

[Ian Cooper]

Hi Colin,

well done and well captured.

If you don't mind I'd like to submit a report to the Aurora & Solar Section of the R.A.S.N.Z. on your behalf unless you would like to submit one yourself? We are always happy to receive reports from all over the southern hemisphere of course, especially so in this Solar Sunspot Cycle which is the weakest in a hundred years. Reports are few and far between!

As you can see from the little Geo-mag contour map attached the aurorae australis are favoured towards Australia and New Zealand at the expense of South America and South Africa.

From what I have read of your report you were somewhere south of Perth, most probably at the same geo-mag lat as me near Palmerston North, and Adelaide. In other words you see very similar strength displays as me. We were unfortunately being wiped out by the remnants of T.C. Sandra.

Cheers,

Ian

[CDANVERS]

Man I am jealous Colin, thats one amazing sight to see, and such a beautiful capture to go with it.

[colinmlegg]

Thanks again guys :) I think I'll be chasing these until I die ;)



Sorry you didn't get to see it Ian.

Yes, please submit a report. I observed it from Contos beach, south west WA, latitude ~ 34 S. The curtains were naked eye visible, with very faint orange colour in the brighter parts. I have a timelapse of the entire night that I haven't processed yet, but there appeared to be 5 distinct bursts throughout the night.

Grahame Kelaher also picked it up photographically from Lake Ballard, latitude ~ 29 S.

[CapturingTheNight]

You already know I love this one Colin. Fantastic! So glad it sparked up for you after I messaged you about it. I was starting to feel bad that I was getting the show and you were not.

[seeker372011]

Do you mind posting links where the alerts may be available?
Worth jumping on a plane I think one day jus so I could someday see an aurora

(On the bucket list):)

[Rod771]

:eyepop: I'm speechless

Well done Colin :thumbsup:

[ChrisM]

Wow! That compares well with any of those 'Northern' lights!

Very nice capture.
Chris

[MrB]

Really looking forward to seeing that! :D

[Ian Cooper]

Hi Colin,

good to see that you have 'the bug!' I've seen over fifty displays from my location over the past 35 years. Most of those have been during the more active Solar Sunspot Cycles (SSC's) in that period, and have included some Great Auroral Storms that have covered more than half of my sky!

The key elements that are needed for a useful aurora observation are in order; The name of your location, the geographic coordinates (Bob Evans of the Aurora & Solar Section will convert these into geo-mag coordinates later). The time from start to finish, and for any significant outbursts. The time in U.T. is preferred and is far more useful than local times. Finally any comments regarding brightness, colour and structure will be of great use. Colour photographs on their own aren't as helpful when trying to compare one display with those of the past. Film & digital cameras pick up colour that the eye doesn't, so the eyeball impression is vital. I suppose the easiest way to get times these days is from the photo details in the digital image.

With this SSC being so poor compared to the last 3 then my advice to any would be aurorae observer/photographer is to take any opportunity that arises as they will be few and far between. We may only have another year or so at best from our Geo Mag latitude Colin. Those further south will fair somewhat better.

Cheers,

Ian

[Irish stargazer]

Beautiful shot.:thumbsup:

[rogerg]

Excellent, of course :) Perfect title too.

[beren]

Awesome image, congrats.........saw it in today's West Australian newspaper:)

[colinmlegg]

Thanks again guys :)

A big thanks to Grahame Kelaher for the getting the shot in the West Australian and giving it a good nudge up the Facebook highway. Owe you one mate :)




Sorry you got cloudy out, Alex. It's been a long chase, but well worth the effort. I've hunted on and off for 3 years, but only got serious after seeing your marvelous shots from Jan last year. Sadly I missed the good shows mid year by always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was determined that wouldn't happen this time!





50 is an amazing statistic Ian. I will get the report and timelapse posted tomorrow night or weekend at latest. Just going through the shots to work out what happened. Being west, I missed the first 5 or so hours. I think that included the biggest displays...based on the images from Tas and what Greg got. No SAR Arcs out west, afaik.

I'll be on the lookout for the next one. I may even fly to Tas if I get 2 days notice. I would love to get a full sky shot with the Aurora covering a good patch of it and southern stars in the background.

[Antu]

Fantastic image, Colin ! Beautiful composition and great colors ! Could you please elaborate a little on the equipment (camera, lens, exptime) ? Thanks !

[prokyon]

Like a dream, wonderful!!!

[Joshua Bunn]

That's beautiful Colin :thumbsup: