Amazing Aurora Sighted over London

I am planning to travel to Northern Iceland this year in late October, early November to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). Little did I know that I would be capturing Aurora in London!

I got the notification two hours before they were due to arrive, and unlike something like the IIS you can't really plan for it, but luckily I have a go bag for astronomical emergencies.

I quickly decided I wanted to capture the whole thing on camera determined to create a complete video of the event. The Aurora itself was powerful with reds being seen as high as the celestial pole and a full array of colors from the common reds and less common greens to even a hint of blue, being able to see all of the colors so far down must have meant there was a powerful solar storm going on in space.

The event lasted about two hours in total on the night of the 10th of May 2024, and really got started when white streaks suddenly seemed to shoot along the sky from the horizon towards the celestial poles. I could see the first hints of green at about 22:30 from then after astronomical twilight at 23:30 the show really started and it got a lot brighter. With some parts of the sky a deep red, others a hint of blue and whole sections that are green.

Its unbelievable that the Northern Lights where visible this far south in light polluted London.

I captured all of this in the video below using my new Rokinon 12mm wide angle lens, which I got to capture Aurora in Iceland so I could capture the full majesty of the Aurora.

This event has really wetted my appetite for Aurora hunting in Iceland but, knowing my luck I won't see any!

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Update: It looks like it could happen again on the night of the 11th of May, and it looks like it should be clear skies. So I am planning a trip out into the country to see it.