Aurora display on May 10/11, 2024

Auroras caused by an extreme geomagnetic storm that began on May 10, 2024 where captured with sky surveillance cameras. During the first half of the night, sky was covered with clouds. The videos and pictures below show the aurora display between 22:00 UTC (0:00 local time) and 1:40 UTC (3:40 local time).

Although the auroras were quite colorful on the camera, they were not very bright. All that could be seen with eyes was a glow of undefined color.

True color images

The videos and pictures below are made from automatically processed preview RGB images (showing visible light).

RGB, Direction: NNW, FOV: 89° × 66°

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Direction:	North-Northwest
FOV; Projection:	89° × 66; approximately rectilinear ("distortion free")
Aperture:	6mm

RGB, Direction: North, FOV: 155° × 109°

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Direction:	North
FOV; Projection:	155° × 109°; approximately stereographic
Aperture:	4.8mm

RGB, All-Sky, FOV: 160°

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This is an almost orthographic projection, i.e. horizon is extremely downscaled.

Direction:	All-Sky
FOV; Projection:	160°; almost orthographic
Aperture:	3.2mm

RGB, All-Sky, FOV: 180°

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Unlike to the camera above, this one uses a (more naturally looking) stenographic projection which does not downscale the horizon. The sensitivity of this camera is quite low -- especially the far red sensitivity. This is why the auroras that look purple in the videos above are quite bluish here.

Direction:	All-Sky
FOV; Projection:	180°; approximately stereographic
Aperture:	0.5mm

Near infrared images

The images below are false color images showing near infrared light. The color order is swapped, i.e. red starts at far red (about 630nm) and blue ends at about 820nm. The videos and pictures below are made from automatically processed images which does not separate the different wavelengths very well (because this would reduce the signal to noise ratio to much).

Near infrared, Direction: North, FOV: 155° × 109°

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This video has the highest temporal resolution.

Direction:	North
FOV; Projection:	155° × 109°; approx. stereographic
Aperture:	4.8mm

Near infrared, All-Sky, FOV: 180°

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Direction:	All-Sky
FOV; Projection:	180°; approx. stereographic
Aperture:	0.5mm

Observation data:

Date:	May 11, 2024 between 22:00 UTC and 1:40 UTC (0:00 to 3:40 local time)
Location:	Pulsnitz, Germany