19-21st September 2003

"'Tis the season for auroras"! Auroras tend to be more common around the time of the equinoxes and this year has been no exception. Solar wind gusts from a large coronal hole that was facing Earth around the 15th September buffeted the Earth's magnetosphere between the 16th and 21st September producing storm conditions at times. Sadly skies were overcast in my part of the world and I missed out on the best displays. Skies were clear and magnetic conditions favourable on the nights of the 19th to 21st September and we managed to capture the tail end of the disturbance. They waxed and waned for a while producing short bursts of rayed curtain although it never became very prominent. The  night of the 19-20th was best, although an interesting disconnected patch was imaged on the 20-21st September.

Here's two of my images taken during the night of the 19-20th September 2003 and featured on a Spaceweather.com Aurora Gallery and a couple from from the night of the 20-21st.

	19-20th; a prominent glow to the north with several rays stretching about 10° into the sky and red tones above. The Plough is upper right.
	19-20th; pretty much the same as above except that an iridium flare just happened to pass through the field whilst exposing!
	20-21st; a low arc to the north with one or two reddish rays stretching about 10° into the sky. Note the patch to the left.

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