Near Full Moon 21st November

The weather seems to have been cloudy for weeks here as we slip from autumn towards winter. Reflected sunlight today, and I was keen to try my New LZOS100/800 refractor on the moon. Visually there was oodles of contrasted detail that could be seen and I spent some time taking in the view. Optically the refractor is as close to perfect as you can get and is quick to show up the failings of eyepieces. This image was taken at prime focus using the FLIR GH3 U3 91S6M camera.

Reykjavik Auroras - 30th October 2021

It was the 'super storm' that wasn't last night. NASA boffins predicted the Coronal Mass Ejection would hit at 18:00ut with auroras lasting for days. It didn't, it may have not even arrived yet, what did hit was a glancing blow from another solar flare that occurred earlier in the week, hitting at more like 22:00ut. For about an hour and half the sky was wild with aurora, but then by midnight it had died right off, and by 05:00ut all that remained was a quiescent green arc. This time lapse is over about 10 minutes at around 22:30ut. Despite the bright lights of Reykjavik it was still seen reflecting in the waters of the bay. Just glad we managed to finish our week with aurora. After taking these shots it was time to head back to the hotel for 3 hours sleep before having to get the shuttle back to the airport... Good times!