An Aurora

There was an aurora last night but, as must be obvious from the picture of this morning's waning crescent moon, I failed to get a photo of it.  We were out in the hours before midnight, following an alert from AuroraWatch, a phone call from Tony Swift at Branault, and a text from Ewan Miles on Mull - to both of whom many thanks.  We took up position on the road just this side of Sanna, where there's a wide view across the Minches to the Inner Isles.

The aurora was there all right, glowing green above a persistent bank of clouds, but not good enough for the limited capabilities of my camera to capture.  In all, it lasted for some seven hours.  Elsewhere in Scotland, people had better luck with the conditions: see the AuroraWatch Flickr Group pictures here.

There's plenty of sunspot activity at the moment, and some indications that there may be a better display during the next 24 hours.

Ewan Miles' blog is here.