| Index of flight seasons with images |
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| 2005 flights |
2006 flights | 2007 flights |
2008 flights |
2009 Flights |
2010 Flights |
| For
the Gatwick and Glasgow flights in January see Pete Lawrence's web
site as I was taken ill and could not fly :-( |
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| The Doncaster flight 280109 |
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| A dim display
with a weak band. |
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| The First Exeter flight 290109 |
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| As the display
was quite faint I only managed to get one image that was 'reasonable'.
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The Second Exeter flight 300109 |
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| Only three reasonable
images taken on this flight but at least there was some detail in
the band especially as we turned back for home. |
As we turned back the Aurora kicked in and both
sides of the plane managed to look back at it. This view is
from the Starboard side. |
Another view shortly after the first taken from
the Port side. Note the faint glow of the Aurora on the wing and the
dark silhouette of the wing tip. |
Another view shortly after the first taken from
the Starboard side. Note the faint glow of the Aurora on the wing
and the dark silhouette of the wing tip is visible on this image as
well. |
A green light (not aurora!) ghostly illuminates
Nigel and Pete whilst they do their commentary on the flight. |
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| The East Midlands flight 200209 |
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A good display with plenty of fast moving rays and
bright patches that were hard to keep up with. |
Note part of Cygnus (Northern Cross) at right and above
the main band. |
Another view taken shortly after the left image. |
| I managed to get a wide angle shot of Orion, Sirius
and Taurus on the way back with only slightly jiggled stars. |
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| The Gatwick flight 220209 |
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| Sadly a very poor display with a
barely visible glow which faded more as the flight progressed. The
image here is the best I was able to obtain. A faint red display is
often indicative of a weak aurora. |
This image has been enhanced as much as I dare
and I have endeavoured to 'clean' up the slight jiggling of the stars.
Cygnus and Lyra at centre and right are well shown with the Milky Way
running diagonally from upper left to centre lower right. |
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| The Bristol flight 230209 |
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Another good display with plenty of detail despite the
previous flights poor showing. |
Lots of structure showing with multiple bright patches
developing then fading. |
This image taken shortly after the previous one helps
to show how quick the aurora can change. |
Another good display with plenty of detail despite the
previous flights poor showing. |
Lots of interesting detail along the base of the aurora
was evident. |
A bright patch developed below Cygnus. |
The aurora just kept going! |
A very prominent band with ripples along it ran
under the stars of Pegasus and Andromeda. |
As we headed back the aurora could still be seen from
the Starboard (right) side looking back - note the reflection of the
aurora off the wing! |
Still visible on the Starboard (right) side looking back
- note the reflection of the aurora off the wing! The constellation
of Aries lies just to the left of the wing tip. |
Occasionally I try to get a constellation image but imaging
the stars is far more tricky from an aircraft. Aurora can often be
defuse in nature so any slight trailing is not as noticeable unlike
stars! This view shows Orion with the bright star at lower left being
Sirius, the Dog Star in Canis Major. |
For the February flights we were also lucky enough to
have a naked eye Comet, Comet Lulin and I managed to take an image
which I have 'extensively cleaned up the trailing to show the comet.
Click here for an annotated
version showing which is the comet and which is planet Saturn. |
It's not often the aurora is so bright that I can take
an image showing the window lit up and the silhouette of fellow astronomer
Pete Lawrence as he takes his picture of the display! |
And another similar view - note how clear it is to see
Pete's glasses! |
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| The Birmingham flight 240209 |
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Another poor display which was a great shame but the view
of the stars was good for everyone. These two images were the best
I managed and unfortunately had a lot of jiggled stars! |
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| The Newcastle flight 150309 |
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Streetlights as we fly North from Newcastle |
The initial display was a general band with little
in the way for detail. |
There was signs however that things could improve. |
And it did improve as the band developed structure
which was subtly changing all the time. |
Another view with subtle detail including brighter
patches and a few faint rays extending upwards. |
The display did vary and before we headed back it
'calmed down' becoming a more diffuse band. |
| On the return journey to Newcastle
the Moon rose adding to the experience. Normally we operate the flight
during 'No Moon' periods i.e. close to Nw Moon wherevere possible. However
our Newcastle flight was delayed for approx an hour so this time we
did spot the moon on the way back. |
This is a composite view combining a long exposure
to show the clouds and a short exposure to show some detail on the moon. |
A closer view of the moon - note the quality is not
good due to the window I had to photograph through. |
| The Manchester flight 200309 |
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Manchester City Centre showing the level of light pollution
going up into the night sky. |
Image #1 This was a 'gentle display' with some slight
structure as these two images show. |
Image #2 |
Image #3 and the display continued with a general
diffuse band although the camera could record the colour better than
the eye. |
Orion the Hunter slowly set as we flew back. |
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| The Gatwick flight 220309 |
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| I got no decent
pictures mainly as I was spending more time down the plane helping the
passengers. See the Aurora Flights web site by Pete Lawrence for some
of the images he managed to get. |
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| The Doncaster flight 230309 | ||
| For the main
part of 'on station aurora watching' the display was quiet with only
a faint band and subtle structure with some faint magenta/red rays from
the base. However we were lucky enough for it to brighten as we headed
back and the captain obtained permission to do an orbit so everyone got
a chance to view the upsurge in actvity before we finally headed back.
I only imaged the faint stuff as during the quick 'orbit' I concentrated
on making sure the passengers could see the display but check Pete Lawrences
aurora flights web site for images of the brief bright display. |
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Image #1 Not that in several images the magenta/red
rays can just be made out. |
Image #2 |
Image #3 A very weak and diffuse band. |
Image #4 |
A longer exposure taken on the way back but before
the upsurge. This shows the dark wing with Taurus and the star cluster
M45, Pleiades above the wing and part of Orion at left. |
Pete Lawrence after we saw the bright upsurge and
when the cabin lights came back on. |
| The Leeds/Bradford flight 240309 | ||
Image #1 A good display with lots of varying structure.
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Image #2 |
Image #3 Several bright yellowish patches developed
along the base of the main band. |
Image #4 |
Image #5 |
Image #6 |
| The Exeter flight 260309 | ||
A bright and strong band with little extra structure
but well seen by all. |
Image #2 The view on the way back as it briefly had
an upsurge. This was taken on the starboard side (right hand side).
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Image #3 Similar but fainter vie wlooking back from
the Port (left) side. Cygnus is the main constellation visible. |
Peter Truman and Nigel Bradbury (L & R) as we
head home with the cabin lights back on with Sylvia the Omega Tour Manager
for the Northern Lights flights behind them. |
The fantastic crew of the FlyBe Exeter Northern Lights
flight. Our thanks to the ground staff who patiently waited
for me to take the picture! |
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| The EMA (East Midlands) flight 270309 |
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| A great display to end the start of
the 2009 season! |
Streetlights taken not long after taking off. |
The display kicks off as the initial auroral band
suddenly shows signs of having activity. |
The display intensifies with lots of quick moving
structure making it difficult to keep up! |
It maintains the rapid development with curtains and
rays developing. |
This is the view taken from the small porthole in
the doors which acts like a fisheye lens but does introduce some refraction
and distortion to the images. |
Another porthole view taken shortlty after tha last
view and showing the development of the bright patches. |
A short while later the two bright patches formed
to give a weird view which I call the 'Devils Eyes' aurora as two bright
patches with rays developed as can be seen here. |
Finally we head home but the display continued as
this view looking back demonstrates. |
| What a great
display to finish the Jan- March 2009 season with! |
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| The Liverpool flight 261008 |
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| A couple of
my images came out reasonable so here they are. The best one is also
available to purchase via my online web shop. |
Good auroral band with some subtle
detail developing then fading. |
A better image with more structure developing
in the sub arc at the bottom of the main auroral band. |
I also spotted the dim planet Uranus with the
naked eye and managed to photograph the star field and it but the
initial image had trailed stars. I've used a technique I've found
to try to recreate from the image what could be seen and I've heavily
processed it to bring out Uranus and the faint stars and this is the
best I've managed. Here is the initial view at left and this link is an annotated version
with and enlargement of the area with Uranus marked.
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| The First Norwich flight 021108 (for images of the 2nd
flight check out Pete Lawrence's auroraflights web site) |
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| As the display
was quite faint I only managed to get one image that was 'reasonable'.
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The Leeds/Bradford flight 231108 |
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| Only two reasonable
images taken on this flight but at least there was some detail in
the band. |
Note the bright patch under the 'Keystone'
of Hercules. The bright star at upper left is Vega. |
Another view shortly after the first. |
| The East Midlands flight 241108 |
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| Poor and weak display with only
one image worth putting up. The main triangle of stars are the top
end of Bootes the Herdsman. |
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| The Birmingham flight 251108 |
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Prior to the flight the pre flight talk was held
at the Windmill Village Hotel near Coventry where I managed to take
this picture of Venus and Jupiter in the twilight sky. |
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Good display as the strong solar wind from a coronal
hole reached us over the next couple of days. Reasonable detail was
seen visually and photographically. |
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| The Bristol flight 261108 | ||
| Another good display as the solar
wind from the coronal hole continued to buffet the Earths magnetic
field with some structure and rays noted in the aurora. |
Note the rays pointing up towards the centre
of the image. The two green horizontal strip at right are actually reflections
from the fluorescent floor safety strips! |
Some red was caught by the camera as well as
the green main band. Note that the sharp dark base is actually the
edge of the window! |
Quite a bright band with hints of structure
and plenty of stars. |
A good view of the aurora as we turned back showing
the dark wing against the brighter aurora plus the constellation of
Lyra the lyre. |
Part of the constellation of Leo the Lion rising
on the port (left) side as we head home. |
| The Gatwick flight 281108 |
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| Weak display with only one of
my images showing aurora. A faint red aurora usually indicates a very
weak display with the magnetic component tipping North. |
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| The Newcastle flight 301108 |
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| Very weak display and I did not
get any images but did capture the planets Venus and Jupiter as they
drew closer before we took the flight and many passengers saw them
before the pre flight presentation. |
Close view of the conjunction of the two planets
from the Brittania Hotel car park. |
Wide field view of the two planets |
| The Manchester flight 011208 |
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| Another weak display but one images
was captured by me plus a view of city lights as we flew over them
- at this stage I don't know the city! |
Very red and weak display. |
City lights as we fly over them. |
A Glorious
Sunset to start the Norwich flight off with! |
Norwich:
The twilight sky and at far left near the horizon lies the planet
Mercury - a rare event from a Northern Lights flight as they are
normally quite late in the evening for take-off. |
Norwich:
The Earths shadow approaching
us from the East. |
Norwich:
Cygnus and Lyra with the
Aurora through them and the last vestiges of twilight at far left.
Note the aircraft lights in the distance below Lyra. |
Norwich:
Cygnus and Lyra with the
Aurora through them - a fainter band but quite a few
stars! |
East Midlands Flight (EMA) 270206:
Aurora in Pegasus with Andromeda and its famous galaxy visible
at upper left. Click
here for an annotated enhanced version. |
Another view from the East Midlands
flight |
EMA 270206: Cassiopeia from approx
36,000 ft. |
Gatwick flight 020306: Main band across
the sky with a hint of the Milky Way as well. |
Gatwick flight 020306:
Upper Cygnus with Milky Way and Aurora to the lower left |
Gatwick flight 020306: Best view with
rays on far right. |
Panoramic view of main Auroral band
and wing in darkness |
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Two week gap to let the Moon get out of
the way.
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Gatwick flight 220306: Note
the curtain effect along the base of the aurora. |
Gatwick flight 220306:
This view shows rays extending up near the wing tip from a brighter
patch of the main band. |
Gatwick flight 220306: This view taken
shortly after the last image. |
Manchester flight 260306: - the best
Aurora yet! |
Manchester flight 260306: note the
detail along the lower part of the Aurora. |
Manchester flight 260306: Note Cygnus
above the aurora and wing tip illuminated by the red nav lights
and yet the aurora is still viewable. |
Manchester flight 260306: more structure
can be seen in the lower parts of the band. |
Manchester flight 260306: Even a direct
view of the red Nav light doesn't completely prevent viewing a
display! |
| Northern Lights Flights Autumn 2006 |
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| Gatwick 2nd Flight November
22nd 2006. This was the only good shot I got but the display was excellent! |
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Norwich: 231106 - a stunning aurora
and probably the best any of us have seen in recent years.
Note the multiple bands and the green and red glows.
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Norwich: 231106 - the display
lasted most of the flight with the POSS web site reporting activity
between 6 and 9 (where 10 is the best!). Here we see a brightening
of sections of the main band with a lighter ray extending from
the right end of it. |
Norwich: 231106 - What more can we say
- absolutely stunning amount of detail with multiple bright patches
and structure all along the band. |
Norwich: 231106 - the view as we were
almost ready to turn back for Norwich Airport. The main display
had settled down but still with some structure. The
two main stars of Gemini are at right, Castor (top) and Pollux (bottom).
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Gatwick flight : 120307 - reasonable diffuse
band across the sky with little activity but still enjoyable to
see. This image was the only one I got that was worth putting on the
web site of this flight. |
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| East Midlands 'Anniversary' flight 140307. I call this
the anniversary flight as it happens to be Lorraine and my wedding
anniversary! Lorraine very kindly allowed me to be on this flight
which was also special as my Father was on board for his 70th birthday
surprise :-) |
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The lights kick in! |
We had a pretty good display! |
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| The Birmingham flight 160307 |
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Good auroral band with some subtle detail |
Better image with some success with recording
the stars |
Constellation of Auriga |
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The November
flights:
Images for the Newcastle Nov 7th, Liverpool
Nov 8th, Norwich Nov 11th, Bristol Nov 14th and Birmingham Nov
16th flights were mainly taken by Pete Lawrence
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| Leeds/Bradford flight 081107 |
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View of Tyneside from the plane!
Click here for an annotated version. |
The view of a reasonable auroral band
with some decent structure |
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| Manchester flight 091107 |
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Best and only decent image I was able to
take. The aurora kicked in very detailed with just 10 minutes
of 'rotation time' left before we had to head back! |
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| Norwich flight 111107 |
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| Quite a faint display
and I only got these images when it brightened a little as we
headed back. |
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Although the aurora is faint (behind the
wing) I like the effect of the stars and the wing with the city
lights trailed below |
| Gatwick 2nd flight 121107 - a great
display for all to enjoy! |
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Dartford and London as we set off! |
We soon find out we're in for a good display.
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It got better with much subtle details,
pulses and rays. |
Lots of detail with ripples along the
aurora base |
We didn't want to leave it behind - but
you have to return home sometime! |
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| East Midlands flight 151107 - another
great display for all to enjoy! |
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Great start to the display with lots of
structure |
It got brighter with several bands and
rays. |
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| Several very kind passengers
on either sides of the plane allowed me to capture images with
the wings silhouetted against the bright aurora |
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These two views were taken from the other
side of the plane thanks to the kind passengers. Note several
rays were very bright! Behind the wingtip the dark patch resembled
an anvil - which was pointed out by Pete in his commentary.
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In the meantime whilst I roamed
up and down the plane giving advice, Nigel and Pete gave a running
commentary - don't they look spooky! |