All-sky aurora - 22.10.2022 at 18.56 - 22.10.2022 at 23.12 Orimattila, Artjärvi, Tähtikallio Observation number 110175

Visibility IV / V

Veikko Mäkelä, Kari Laihia, Juha Blad, Tuija Teitto, Ursa (Helsinki)

An interesting play, unfortunately very cloudy after the beginning. recorded with an all-sky camera. Before 20:00 we (Veikko, Juha and Tuija) went to visually follow the repos in the north. Toni Veikkolainen filmed and reported himself. Kari was the first to notice the flares from the all-sky camera while photographing asteroids.

At 18:56 The first storms to the north-east into the dim sky.

18:56-19:11: First wave. A greenish arch rises from the northeast, a reddish repo to the front at 7:04 p.m., also progresses to the southwest. At 19:08 the green passes the red, the red sharpens and branches.

From 19:11 to 19:25. Second wave. We go out for sure without seeing anything visually, even though the arcs are clear on the camera. The first green fades at 19:14, the red remains visible. We doubt whether the red is caused by the LEDs on the observation platform, which turns out to be a false conclusion. At 19:13 a new green appeared to the northeast and red in front of it. At 19:21 green, ahead of red, advanced to the zenith and red forms an arc. At 16:24 the green passes the red and reaches the first red arch at 19:25.

At 19:31-40. There was a 5 min break in the camera. The latter red is faintly visible and disappears. The green glow of the south is gone. Traditional repos have appeared in the north. Visually green, the camera also records red. We go to look at the logging hole.

At 7:40 p.m.-56 p.m. Calm rays in the north, brightening/dimming (qR2R2-3c). Wide green glow (qHV2c) over the zenith. At 19:45 thin clouds over. The camera shows that the play is spreading well to the south.

From 19:56 to 21:00. Visible from behind the clouds as the brightness varies.

At 21:00-21:40 At 21:06 transverse structures in the aurora borealis from behind the clouds. They are visible until 21:33. Maybe dunes? A word of caution: the cloud cover may be affected. The direction of the clouds is southwest-northeast, so the streaks may be real. Later, however, an east-west cloud will also appear.

At 21:40-22:10 In the north, horizontal structures in the north, this time the clouds are probably the culprits.

At 22:10-23:15. The cloud mass thickens, with occasional patches until 23:15.

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

Mielenkiintoinen näytelmä, valitettavasti alun jälkeen pahasti pilvissä. all-sky-kameralla tallennettu. Ennen klo 20 kävimme (Veikko, Juha ja Tuija) visuaalisesti seuraamassa pohjoisen repoja. Toni Veikkolainen kuvasi ja raportoi itse. Kari huomasi revot ensimmäisenä all-sky-kamerasta kuvatessaan asteroideja.

Klo 18.56 Ensimmäiset revot koilliseen aavistuksen hämärätaivaalle.

Klo 18.56-19.11: Ensimmäinen aalto. Koillisesta nousee vihertävä kaari, etupuolelle klo 19.04 punertavaa repoa, etenee myös lounaaseen. Klo 19.08 vihreä ajaa punaisen ohi, punainen terävöityy ja haaroittuu.

Klo 19.11-19.25. Toinen aalto. Menemme ulos varmuudella näkemättä mitään visuaalisesti, vaikka kamerassa kaaret kirkkaita. Ensimmäinen vihreä hiipuu klo 19.14, punainen jää näkyviin. Epäilemme, johtuuko punainen havaintotasanteen led-valoista, joka osoittautuu vääräksi päätelmäksi. Klo 19.13 koilliseen ilmaantunut uutta vihreää ja sen eteen punaista. Klo 19.21 vihreä, edellään punainen, edennyt zeniittiin ja punainen muodostaa kaaren. Klo 16.24 vihreä ajaa punaisen ohi ja saavuttaa klo 19.25 ensimmäisen punaisen kaaren.

Klo 19.31-40. Kamerassa oli 5 min katko. Jälkimmäinen punainen näkyy heikosti ja katoaa. Etelän vihreä hehku kadonnut. Pohjoiseen ilmestynyt perinteisiä repoja. Visuaalisesti vihreitä, kamera tallentaa punaistakin. Menemme katsemaan hakkuuaukolle.

Klo 19.40-56. Pohjoisessa rauhallisia säteitä, kirkastuvat/himmenevät (qR2R2-3c). Laaja vihreä hehku (qHV2c) yli zeniitin. Klo 19.45 ohuet pilvet päälle. Kamerasta näkyy, että näytelmä leviää hyvin etelään.

Klo 19.56-21.00. Näkyy pilvien takaa kirkkauden vaihdellessa.

Klo 21.00-21.40 Klo 21.06 pilvien takaa revontuliin poikittaisia rakenteita. Näkyvät klo 21.33 asti. Ehkä dyynejä? Varoituksen sana: pilviverho saattaa vaikuttaa. Pilvien suunta lounas-koillinen, joten raidat ehkä todellisia. Myöhemmin ilmestyy kuitenkin myös itä-länsi-suuntaista pilveä.

Klo 21.40-22.10 Pohjoisessa revoissa vaakarakenteita, tällä kertaa pilvet lienevät syypäitä.

Klo 22.10-23.15. Pilvimassa sakenee, ajoittain aukoista repoja klo 23.15 asti.

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Additional information

Aurora brightness
- 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.
- 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.
- Dunes
  
  Dunes
  
  The dunes are a dim and very rare shape that has so far been associated with the aurora visible in early evening.
  
  Aurora dunes can be most easily confused to ribbons on lower clouds. In order to fill in the description of the phenomenon, a striped pattern formed by parallel lines must also appear in the aurora. The stripes are most easily recognizable right at the front edge of the aurora but they may also occur among the rest of the aurora.
  
  The dune auroras are visible as a parallel striped float. Photo by Tapio Terenius
  
  Raidallisen dyynilautan reunassa voi toisinaan olla voimakastakin aaltoilua.
  
  There can sometimes be strong ripples at the edge of a striped dune float. The rippling of the edge of the dune float can vary from minor to large (pictured). Photo by Pirjo Koski
- Red Arc with Green Diffuse Aurora (RAGDA)
  
  Red Arc with Green Diffuse Aurora (RAGDA), is a two-component form of northern lights that occurs south of the oval.
  
  Both parts of the aurora are formed when positive particles from the magnetosphere hit the Earth's upper atmosphere. The phenomenon occurs before magnetic midnight during large aurora substorms and is best distinguished when it deteches southward from the bright rays of the substorm aurora.
  
  The phenomenon consists of a faint red arc, which looks a lot like a Stable Auroral Red (SAR)-arc. The common factor for these two red arcs is the reaction of the ring current with the substorm.
  
  A Red Arc with Green Diffuse Aurora
  Photo: Antero Ohranen
  
  Below the red arc are green diffuse patches or sausage-like shapes. RAGDA's green aurora is essentially featureless and without any rays. It may appear slightly more bluish in camera images compared to the green aurora of the oval.
  
  RAGDA's green has slightly more bluish shade than the rest of the oval.
  Photo: Lasse Nurminen
  
  Sometimes the red arc and the green patches are clearly separated from the aurora oval and sometimes almost in contact with the southward edge of the oval.
  
  During an active substorm, the green northern lights can sometimes be seen with red tops. These usually have rays that RAGDA's green aurora lacks.
  
  An emissionless gap without any aurora light can be observed between the red arc and green diffuse aurora. The two features don't seem to be connected. Of the two aligned structures, the red one is located ~ 100 kilometers higher than the green aurora.
  
  There seems to be an empty area without any aurora light between the red and green aurora.
  Photo: Markku Ruonala
  
  The event is dynamic. It sometimes starts with green blobs, then a red arc appears. These two can also appear in the sky at the same time. The shapes move often from east to west. Then the Red Arc with Green Diffuse Aurora fades away and only the red arc remains visible in the sky. The red arc is recognized as the SAR arc.
  
  Observing this phenomenon is easier when the night sky is clear and dark before magnetic midnight. When looking for the red arc with green diffuse aurora, the best results can be achieved by pointing the camera towards south or southwest of the brightest part of the oval.
  
  A wide-angle lens is recommended for photographing the shape of the red arc going over the sky, but a regular lens can also be used. The red arc is quite dim, so the exposure times needed are typically longer than the ones for northern lights.
  
  Two RAGDA-arcs
  Photo: Pirjo Koski
  
  If the red arc cannot be distinguished in the images, the phenomenon identification 'Diffuse green auroras' should be used for isolated hazy green blobs/arc.
  
  Dunes in RAGDA's green aurora
  Photo: Matias Takala

Colors with unaided eye and other features
- 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.

Technical information

Photo at 19.07+19.11, 19.13+19.14, 19.21+19.24, 19.31+19.47, 19.51+19.56 and 21.45+22.00
SBIG All-Sky 340; 48 s + 56 s and the remaining 56 s
partially unsharp mask

Video time-lapse from 18:51 to 23:15
SBIG All-Sky 340; 10-56 pp
Windows MovieMaker

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All-sky aurora - 22.10.2022 at 18.56 - 22.10.2022 at 23.12 Orimattila, Artjärvi, Tähtikallio Observation number 110175

Dunes