In the evening hours of 2000 November 06 the geomagnetic activity in Europe reached high values. Even with a planetary K-index of only 6, the local magnetometer at Scheggerott near Kiel observed a local K-index of 7. Alarmed by that index and a sighting report from near the German-Austrian border, I started to search for a hole in the clouds which obscured the view to the sky. I found that hole in the Hunsrück mountain area near Bingen (Rhine). There I could observe a weak green glow in the region of the big dipper, which can be seen on pictures 1 and 2. Later that evening I did another exposure near Koblenz (Rhine). During that exposure no aurora was visible to the naked eye, but the picture just shows the opposite fact, a nice auroral curtain on the best picture of that evening.
For those of you, who want to know how a weak auroral display looks like, here are 3 photos from this display.
Short description of the technical details:
Camera: Canon FT QL
Lens: Tokina EL 28mm at f/2.8
Film: Kodak Elite Chrome 200 ASA color slide film
Exposure time: 40 seconds
Location: in the Hunsrück mountain area (ca. 50°north, ca. 8°east)
The aurora borealis occured in 3 phases that evening:
1. phase: ca. 18:15 - 18:45 UTC (not observed by myself, red curtain)
2. phase: ca. 20:40 - 20:50 UTC (green glow or green arc)
3. phase: ca. 21:35 - 21:50 UTC (green arc and red curtain)
Here are the pictures of the aurora borealis.
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