Star!

On Friday, August 5, my iPad's 3D Sun app sent an alert that told me that there had been an M9-class solar flare that sent a major Coronal Mass Ejection straight to earth. It told me that auroras were possible at all latitudes and that we should be on the lookout for them after dark.

This was an event not to be missed.

I packed up my camera, intervalometer, portable reclining chair and a not-quite-warm-enough jacket and went to our usual sky watching spot east of Julian.

If there were going to be auroras, they'd be a great time-lapse movie subject. If there weren't any the night was clear and the stars moving across the sky (along with the planes up there and the cars down on the highways) would make for a nice movie.

We saw a handful of satellites, a few meteors and a bunch of aircraft. But, alas, no auroras. The sky was pretty.

The moon was almost at first quarter so it was above the horizon till after 11:00. It was somewhat chilly, around 65º and there was a stiff wind blowing. We finally abandoned the chairs and escaped to the car. We watched the sky through open, leeward windows.

I set the camera to take pictures at its highest sensitivity (ISO 3200) with the lens at its widest aperture (f/2.8). I used my fisheye lens so the view is heavily distorted. I had the camera take 20 second exposures every 21 seconds. The movie goes from 8:43pm until 11:15 when we got tired of craning our necks to watch the sky through car windows.

We get to see the the sky and terrain darken as the twilight fades and the moon sets. The shadow of the moon scooting across the valley floor is fun. It didn't quite make it to the horizon. We're wusses and couldn't stay out any longer. It's 40 miles home through winding mountain roads. Not a good time to drive while sleepy.

The 437 frames are played at a rate of 12 frames per second. The two and a half hours take only 36 seconds. As usual, it's in HD. Select the highest resolution your connection will support and watch in full screen mode.



Here is a picture with one of the satellites (I think). It's at the top of the picture.

Oooh! Here's a better satellite. It flared a couple of times.

It disappeared then made another little flare three frames (a minute) later.