Aurora Borealis through Clouds abp03511

29thOct 2003 at 20.15hrsUT Early signs of an Aurora Borealis display with faint rays showing through the clouds

Green Aurora Oxygen Gas abp03512

21.15hrsUT on the 29thOct2003 After a frustrating hour waiting for the clouds to clear another display is visible to the NW

Aurora behind Deeside Clouds abp03530

At 22.23hrs a further larger display can be seen through the heavy cloud cover with rays to the North

Aurora zenith over tree abp000362

29th Oct 2003 at 23.20hrs this beautiful green Aurora Borealis zenith cascades over Royal Deeside near once the cloud cleared

Scottish Aurora behind clouds abp00366

Cloud continues to be a problem but the display is visible through the gaps and is obviously growing in size

Clouds obscure large display abp00367

At 23.22hrs the zenith is still dramatic through the clouds and is now viewed to the SE over Crooktree

Surreal Aurora in clouds abp03610

A couple of minutes later to the south the Aurora Borealis Corona is building and the cloud makes it even more fascinating

Westerly Aurora display & rays abp03611

By 23.27hrs further aurora activity is onstream to the West with rays developing in the NW and showing higher level activity in the red oxygen zone

Green & Red Aurora Oxygen Gas abp03615

As the clouds clear the full beauty of the auroral zenith can be seen to the SE, high above Crooktree with distinct green and red oxygen gas colouration

Swirling Aurora to East and South abp03616

By 23.32hrs on the 29th Oct the Northern Lights are swirling majestically overhead and filling the southern skyline

Northern Lights over Deeside abp03623

After and hour and half of total cloud cover, luck smiles on the righteous and a clear sky offers the full glory of this high level Aurora Corona once again

Aurora Corona fills night sky abp03624

Nearly 01.00hrsUT and the Corona hangs like a celestial umbrella above Crooktree looking eastwards towards Aberdeen

Royal Deeside under Aurora Corona abp03625

Turn round and a full corona surrounds the viewer and this view is to the NW and bathes Royal Deeside with glorious lights and dancing rays

Corona Crown over Scotland abp03632

Well into the 30th Oct 2003 at around two minutes past one in the morning, the coronal zenith appears to explode overhead in the southern night sky

Huge sweep of Aurora Rays abp03633

Swinging round to the North and this is the sort of awesome spectacle that makes all the long hours observing worthwhile

Northern Lights over Scotland abp0635

01.04hrsUT and Orion gives us our southerly pointer as the "Merry Dancers" swing the celestial dance floor over Aberdeenshire

Merry Dancers over Deeside abp03636

Back to the South again and almost at a point where one thinks about just watching, not photographing, an Aurora Borealis such as this

Red Aurora Zenith to south abp0036E

Five past one on the early morning of the 30th Oct 2003 and time to switch to the digital camera as the Corona shows no signs of abating

Scottish Aurora Corona to West abp03713

At 22.15hrs on the evening of the 30th October in a miraculous 30min gap in the cloud clover a further Aurora Borealis Corona gets underway to the North West

Red Aurora Corona behind clouds abp03724

00.31hrsUT in the morning of the 31stOct2003 complete cloud cover cannot hide the huge Aurora event going on above and the red oxygen corona even penetrates the cloud