All-sky aurora - 18.9.2023 at 21.50 - 19.9.2023 at 02.30 Kurikka, Jurva Observation number 118836

Visibility V / V

Timo Nevala, Ursa (Länsi-Suomi)

My aurora sighting started with corona. And now I'm not talking about that disease. I went to the yard to take a look at the cloud cover situation. In the middle sky, I noticed strange-looking clouds that resembled an aurora corona. I took the camera and took a picture of it. The "clouds" were indeed green, so it was the Northern Lights corona! I hadn't followed the northern lights, this came as a bit of a surprise. I took pictures from other parts of the sky as well, and everywhere was green. And there were also clouds, behind which the aurora borealis mostly remained at the beginning, except that Korona now happened to shine just in time due to the thinning of the cloud (picture 2).

Fortunately, the sky almost cleared up and the northern lights became properly visible. They were first concentrated in the southern hemisphere, which is unusual. The pictures showed almost only green color. There was green everywhere. The brightest shapes were really bright, and the northern lights lit up the landscape, the yard was as bright as moonlight. (The moon was not above the horizon now.) The aurora corona also came into view many times. Hoping for rare forms of aurora borealis, I took photos from all sides of the sky, even at places that looked dark, but I couldn't find anything special.

Around half past twelve, the northern lights started to dim and retreat towards the north. It was only at that point that the red color started to appear in the photographs (Figure 8). However, the camera's battery started to run out, and I didn't get many pictures of the reds anymore. I also thought the show was coming to an end, and after watching it for a while I went back inside.

Later in the night, I took another look at the situation, and I realized that there is "full noise" again, picture 1. I continued to photograph for a while, but then the clouds covered the sky, and I thought that it might be time to stop. Probably the clouds would have parted after a while, and the aurora borealis would have been enough to watch until dawn.

These were the fiercest aurora borealis of this year so far, of the ones that have happened to me.

This description has been automatically translated from Finnish. Click here to see the original text.

Revontulihavaintoni alkoi koronalla. Enkä nyt puhu siitä taudista. Menin pihalle vilkaisemaan pilvisyystilannetta. Keskitaivaalla huomasin oudon näköisiä pilviä, jotka muistuttivat ihan revontulikoronaa. Hain kameran ja otin siitä kuvan. "Pilvet" olivatkin vihreitä, se siis oli revontulikorona! En ollut seurannut revontulikäppyröitä, tämä tuli vähän yllätyksenä. Otin muualtakin taivaalta kuvia, ja kaikkialla oli vihreää. Ja oli myös pilviä, joiden taakse revontulet enimmäkseen ensi alkuun jäivät, paitsi tuo korona nyt sattui juuri sopivasti pilven ohentumasta loistamaan (kuva 2).

Taivas onneksi lähes selkeni kohta puoliin ja revontulet tulivat kunnolla näkyviin. Ne keskittyivät ensin eteläiselle taivaanpuoliskolle, mikä on poikkeuksellista. Kuvissa näkyi lähes pelkästään vihreää väriä. Joka puolella oli vihreää. Kirkkaimmat muodot olivat todella kirkkaita, ja revontulet valaisivat maiseman, pihalla oli valoisaa kuin kuutamolla. (Kuu ei ollut horisontin yläpuolella nyt.) Revontulikoronakin tuli näkyviin monta kertaa. Harvinaisten revontulimuotojen toivossa otin valokuvia vähän joka puolelta taivasta, pimeältäkin näyttäneistä kohdista, mutta niistä ei löytynyt mitään erikoista.

Noin puoli kahdentoista maissa revontulet alkoivat himmetä ja vetäytyä pohjoista kohti. Vasta siinä vaiheessa valokuvissa alkoi näkyä punaista väriä (kuva 8). Tosin kameran akku alkoi olla lopussa, eikä punaisista enää montaa kuvaa saanut. Luulin myös, että näytös alkoi olla lopuillaan, ja hetken sitä vielä katseltuani menin takaisin sisälle.

Myöhemmin yöllä kävin vielä vilkaisemassa tilannetta, ja totesin, että siellähän on taas "täysi rähinä" päällä, kuva 1. Kuvasin vielä jonkin aikaa, mutta sitten pilvet peittivät taivaan, ja ajattelin, että on ehkä aika lopettaa. Luultavasti pilvet olisivat jonkin ajan kuluttua rakoilleet, ja revontulissa olisi riittänyt seurattavaa aamunkoittoon asti.

Nämä olivat kyllä tämän vuoden rajuimmat revontulet tähän asti, niistä mitä omalle kohdalle on sattunut.

2 3

Additional information

Aurora brightness
- Very bright auroras
Observed aurora forms
- Arc
  
  ARC The arcs are wider than the bands and do not fold as strongly. The arcs are normally neither very bright nor active.
  
  The arc is probably the most common form of aurora. When aurora show is a calm arc in the low northern sky it often doesn’t evolve to anything more during night. In more active shows the arc is often the first form to appear and the last to disappear.
  
  The lower edge of the arc is usually sharp but the upper edge can gradually blend into the background sky. As activity increases rays and folds normally develop, and the arcs turn gradually into bands.
  
  An aurora arc runs across the picture. Vertical shapes are rays. Photo by Atacan Ergin.
  
  Aurora Arc. Photo by Mauri Korpi.
  
  Aurora Arc. Photo by Anna-Liisa Sarajärvi.
  
  Aurora Arc. Photo by Matti Asumalahti.
- Corona
  
  CoronaA corona is a hand fan shaped structure, it usually forms south of the observer's zenith, most commonly consisting of rays or bands. The corona is usually the most beautiful part of the aurora show. It is bright and active, but on the other hand also short-lived.
  
  Aurora corona. Photo by Anna-Liisa Sarajärvi.
  
  Aurora corona. Photo by Merja Ruotsalainen.
  
  Corona formed from bands. Photo by Markku Ruonala.
  
  Aurora corona. Photo by Tapio Koski.
- Band
  
  Bands are usually narrower, more twisty at the bottom, brighter, and more active than arches. Bands usually develop from arches.
  
  Bands can form J and U shapes, sometimes even full spirals. The corona can also arise from bands. Bands are a fairly common form of aurora.
  
  Aurora band. Photo by Merja Ruotsalainen.
  
  Aurora band. Photo by Matias Takala.
  
  Aurora band. Photo by Lea Rahtu-Korpela.
  
  Aurora bands. Photo by Lauri Koivuluoma.
  
  Aurora band. Photo by Matias Takala.
- Rays
  
  The raysare parallel to the lines of force of the magnetic field, i.e. quite vertical, usually less than one degree thick light streaks. The rays can occur alone or in connection with other shapes, mainly with arcs and bands. Short rays are usually brightest at the bottom but dim quickly. The longest rays, even extending almost from the horizon to the zenith, are usually uniformly bright and quite calm, and unlike the shorter rays, most often occur in groups of a few rays or alone. Rays, like bands, are a very typical form of aurora.
  
  Artificial light pillars, which are a halo phenomenon visible in ice mist, can sometimes be very similar to the rays of aurora. Confusion is possible especially when the lamps that cause the artificial light pillars are far away and not visible behind buildings or the forest. The nature of the phenomenon is clear at least from the photographs.
  
  Rays. Picture of Tom Eklund.
  
  Rays. Photo by Mika Puurula.
  
  Two beams rise from the aurora veil. Photo by Anssi Mäntylä.
  
  Two radial bands. Show Jani Lauanne.
  
  Radial band and veil. Photo by Jussi Alanenpää.
  
  Two rays. Photo by Aki Taavitsainen.
  
  It may be possible to confuse such rays with artificial light columns. Compare the image below. Picture of Tom Eklund.
  
  There is no aurora in this image, but all the light poles - including the wide and diffuse bar seen at the top left - are artificial light pillars born of ice mist. Photo by Sami Jumppanen.
  
  Aurora and artificial light pillars. All the radial shapes in the picture above are probably artificial light pillars that coincide appropriately with the aurora band. In the image below, the aurora band has shifted and does not overlap with the pillars produced by the orange bulbs. There is no orange in auroras. Photo by Katariina Roiha
- Veil
  
  Veil
  Veil is the most bland and very common form of aurora. It usually covers its homogeneous dim glow over a wide area of the sky at once. Most often, the veil is seen in the calmer and quiet phase of the night after the aurora maximum as a background for other forms. The veil can also occur alone and in that case it will be quite difficult to reliably identify as an aurora, especially at a observation site which has a lot of light pollution.
  
  A similar glow of light can also be caused by airborne moisture, smoke, or a very thin layer of clouds that reflects the light that hits them. However, clouds can also be used to identify veil, especially if the middle or upper cloud appears dark against a lighter background, then it is very likely to be aurora veil if the brightness of the background sky is not due to the rising or falling Moon or Sun. When photographing, very long exposure times usually reveal the green colour of the veil auroras.
  
  Veil and rays. Photo by Esa Palmi.
  
  Red aurora veil. Photo by Marko Mikkilä.
  
  Veil. Photo by Milla Myllymaa.
  
  Aurora veil that changes color from green at the lower edge through purple to blue at the top. Photo by Jaakko Hatanpää.
  
  Dim green veil. Photo by Jarmo Leskinen.
  
  Radial aurora band surrounded by veil. Photo by Jussi Alanenpää.
- Pulsating patches
  
  Pulsating patches or -aurora typically have more or less regular shape and size. They typically appear in the later part of an aurora display. They are almost always pulsating in variable periods.

Colors with unaided eye and other features
- White auroras
  
  Paljain silmin valkoinen väri näkyy useimmiten himmeissä näytelmissä, kun silmä ei kykene erottamaan mitään varsinaista väriä. Harvoin kirkkaissa näytelmissä valkoinen väri voi myös syntyä sopivista vihreän, punaisen ja sinisen yhdistelmistä.
- Green auroras
  
  Green, seen with the naked eye, is one the most common colors of the aurora. The green color is derived from atomic oxygen.
  
  Green auroras. Lea Rahtu-Korpela.
  
  Green auroras. Photo by Juha Ojanperä.
- Red coloration of the shapes top
  
  Auroras which have red top part that can be seen with naked eye are most often observed in the bands and long rays. In this case the lower parts are usually green. If the upper parts are in sunlight, red may be stronger than green. This shade of red is due to the discharge of the excitation state of the atomic oxygen.
  
  Aurora that shift to reddish towards the top. Photo by Karri Pasanen.
  
  Red top in a aurora band. Photo by Simo Aikioniemi.
  
  Red at the top of the aurora. Picture of Tom Eklund.
- Pulsating auroras
  
  Pulsating aurora. The brightness of the pulsating aurora usually varies rhythmically over a period that can be only a fraction of a second at its fastest, but can also be several minutes. Pulsing usually only occurs in(strong auroral conditions) higher quality shows , especially towards the end of them. However, the pulsation may be followed by yet another eruption. Sometimes the variation in brightness is at the same stage in the whole form, whereby the whole form "turns on and off" at the same time. Pulsation is also found in arches and bands, but above all in spots..
- Flickering auroras
  
  Flickering. This rare subclass refers to a situation where irregular variations in brightness occur in aurora, such as in fluttering flames.

Technical information

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ100, except when its battery ran out, I had to rely on an older camera, the Canon PowerShot SX210IS, with which picture 1. (Yes, notice how the Lumix has much sharper night pictures.)

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All-sky aurora - 18.9.2023 at 21.50 - 19.9.2023 at 02.30 Kurikka, Jurva Observation number 118836