Occasional reports on astronomical events
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Thursday 4th March 2010
Aurora at
Nesting - Ivan Hawick
Wednesday 24th February 2010
Moon halo at Nesting - Ivan Hawick
Friday 29th January 2010
Orion - Ian Towriess
Wednesday 20th January 2010
Aurora - Ivan Hawick
Friday 21st August 2009
Aurora - Alastair Wilson
Friday 13th February 2009
Aurora - Ivan Hawick
Friday 18th
July 2008
Noctilucent clouds - Austin Taylor
Sightings of these clouds are confined to the
summer months and may be anticipated perhaps 3 or 4 times in an average year,
though sightings are becoming more common - I have seen them 4 times this year
already. They are also normally a northern phenomenon, generally being confined
to latitudes north of about 50 degrees - though they are increasingly being seen
further south. Sightings as brilliant as were visible on the 18th are rare and
these were a truly beautiful sight for anyone fortunate to see them. "Noctilucent"
means "luminous at night" and they are only visible when lit from below after
sunset, with the ground and lower atmosphere in darkness.
According to the British Astronomical
Association, noctilucent clouds are located in the mesosphere, about 80-85km (50
miles) above the polar regions of the Earth's surface and are the highest clouds
ever seen, some ten times higher than cirrus, the highest tropospheric cloud.
They are still in sunlight long after sunset and they shine in the sky whereas
the lower tropospheric clouds show up dark against them.
Other internet sources say that these clouds are
extremely thin and tenuous, made of tiny ice crystals that brilliantly reflect
sunlight. Not a great deal is known about them and there seems to be some
disagreement on how they have formed. It seems that they were only first
observed in the late 19th Century though there are suggestions that their
development may be relevant to climate change and that sightings are becoming
more frequent. Scientific research seems to be difficult, being too low for
satellites to observe and too high for balloons to gather data.
Monday 10th December 2007
Aurora borealis over Bigton (4 photos) and St Ninian's Isle (1 photo) - Hugh Harrop
Aurora borealis over Lerwick and Wadbister - Austin Taylor
Thursday 18th October 2007
Aurora borealis from Wadbister - Austin Taylor
Thursday 26th July 2007
Noctilucent clouds - Austin Taylor
Wednesday 10th January 2007
Comet McNaught - Steve Minton
Sunday 7th May 2006
Red sunset at Baltasound -
Mike Pennington
Monday 30th January 2006
Saturn - Steve Minton
'One of the coolest things in the sky', even with the tantalising
glimpses an ornithological scope can manage.
Monday 3rd October 2005
Partial eclipse of the sun over Foula -
Tony Mainwood
Tuesday 9th November 2004
A spectacular aurora almost filled the sky from just after
sunset to just before dawn. Colours mainly varied from green to
white, but there were some spectacular shapes.
Aurora over Haroldswick and Clibberswick - the
constellations visible are the Plough in the first two, Gemini on the right of
the third, Gemini and Auriga in the next two and the star Vega in Lyra is the
most obvious star in the final photo - Mike Pennington
Aurora over Nesting - Bryan Gray
Tuesday
31st August 2004A brief but spectacular aurora was reported over Lerwick at
01:30 this morning.
It was predicted by
Aurora Watch - click here
for a link.
Tuesday
8th June 2004With sunny spells through the day there were good conditions
for viewing the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun - an event not seen
anywhere on Earth of 126 years.
The transit of Venus, the second showing the so-called
'third contact' when the disc of Venus comes into contact with the edge of the
Sun's disc before leaving the face of the Sun -
Austin Taylor (click on images for larger
versions).
Monday
3rd May 2004It was too cloudy to see the eclipse of the moon on the night
of 4th/5th, although there was a fine night sky the night before.
Saturday
20th March 2004
A rather unusual set of circumstances over the next week or so
allows an observer to see all five naked eye planets at dusk - Mercury is
very low in the west and only visible for half an hour or so after it gets
(fairly) dark, Venus is about as bright as it ever gets, Mars is
fading fast but is easy to find just beneath the Pleiades (Seven Sisters),
Saturn is high in the sky and Jupiter is in the east and almost as
bright as Venus.
Thursday
20th November
2003
The best display of the Aurora Borealis ('Northern Lights' or,
in Shetland, 'Merry Dancers') was witnessed throughout the islands. These photos
were taken by Mike Pennington at Uyeasound.
Saturday 31st May
2003
The annular eclipse of the sun was affected by the cloud
cover. A few lucky observers saw the 'golden ring' effect through the clouds. On
Unst, this was the best view before the sun disappeared behind thick cloud.
Nature in Shetland
