I'm just putting this here because it was really rather unusual and exciting. Around 10pm on Thursday 10 October 2024, the Aurora Borealis could be seen all over the UK - including Yorkshire. I saw someone's FB post about it so I went out on my balcony to look. There is a LOT of light pollution here, from the car park lights right opposite at eye level, to the abundant streetlights everywhere. I couldn't see a thing with my naked eye. Tried my phone camera but my phone is now old and doesn't have a night mode, so that wasn't very satisfactory, though I could see some reddish tones in the images. This shot was taken with my camera but I wasn't exactly sure what settings to use, and couldn't lay my hands on my tripod to steady it. (I do have one somewhere!) The upward light streaks (right) are not aurora but streaks from streetlights or floodlights.
Having seen 'dancing' auroras for the first time in Iceland, which was so exciting and emotional, I haven't been bothered to hunt auroras in the UK, though due to the sun's cycle, they have been much more common this year; there have been two or three very strong magnetic storms. It was a freezing cold night and I wasn't inclined to drive anywhere to see if I could see this 'showing' more clearly in an area of less light pollution. Some people have posted amazing photos, many taken when the activity flared up again more strongly, with pillars, sometime after midnight.
Still, not something I ever expected to be able to see from my new flat's balcony!
