Natural phenomenon you have witnessed?

[Howardh]

Seen some amazing photos of the Northern Lights taken from Jersey last night! As usual cloudy where I live so no chance; I've only seen them once (last year), maybe I can get the full eclipse in this year?

 

[nlogax]

Seen some amazing photos of the Northern Lights taken from Jersey last night! As usual cloudy where I live so no chance; I've only seen them once (last year), maybe I can get the full eclipse in this year?

There were some incredible aurora shots taken last night from north of the Clyde and out towards Edinburgh, but being south of Glasgow we were bathed in nowt but thick cloud..again!

 

[adc82140]

Seen some amazing photos of the Northern Lights taken from Jersey last night! As usual cloudy where I live so no chance; I've only seen them once (last year), maybe I can get the full eclipse in this year?

I'm heading to Spain for the eclipse. Tickets already booked.

 

[Howardh]

I'm heading to Spain for the eclipse. Tickets already booked.

If it's the south of Spain there must be a 90% chance of clear skies! It should be possible to stay outside the eclipse zone, eg Barcelona, and make a day-trip (by train?) to be inside, think it's around 8.30pm so plenty of time to return?

 

[adc82140]

If it's the south of Spain there must be a 90% chance of clear skies! It should be possible to stay outside the eclipse zone, eg Barcelona, and make a day-trip (by train?) to be inside, think it's around 8.30pm so plenty of time to return?

It's quite late in the day. I'll actually be based in SW France (98% totality), but will take a day out by car across the border to experience 100%. The line of totality crosses Bilbao and Zaragosa, unsure as yet which way I'll head out.

 

[Howardh]

It's quite late in the day. I'll actually be based in SW France (98% totality), but will take a day out by car across the border to experience 100%. The line of totality crosses Bilbao and Zaragosa, unsure as yet which way I'll head out.

Anyone right on the edge of totality won't get the full effect as it's light not far away, but that aside I wonder what effect it will have being so close to sunset? Valencia will have the eclipse at 2032 with sunset at 2101, with one minute totality, but with the sun being so low will it affect the light in the atmosphere?

Hope to book a ticket and find out!

 

[Tetchytyke]

There were some incredible aurora shots taken last night from north of the Clyde and out towards Edinburgh, but being south of Glasgow we were bathed in nowt but thick cloud..again!

Likewise here. With our dark skies the aurora are really visible here when the clouds behave. Sadly last night they did not.

 

[Forty29]

Several years ago l was driving and everywhere had a strange reddish glow. I stopped and saw the sun was a deep red colour. Later l heard it was caused by forest fire smoke from America maybe can't remember. I did think at the time of it was something going on in space.

 

[Mr. SW]

Going out today to see and photo the the trains at the Winter Steam Gala on the Great Central Railway but watching a kestrel instead.

 

[DelW]

Several years ago l was driving and everywhere had a strange reddish glow. I stopped and saw the sun was a deep red colour. Later l heard it was caused by forest fire smoke from America maybe can't remember. I did think at the time of it was something going on in space.

IIRC we've had something similar a few years ago, from Saharan dust high in the atmosphere.

 

[Forty29]

Ash could have been that

IIRC we've had something similar a few years ago, from Saharan dust high in the atmosphere.

Aah yes could have been that.

 

[brad465]

There should be some good views of Mercury tonight with the moon above it. Given how close Mercury is to the sun, there are not many times of year one can see it outside the tropics.

 

[Harvester]

A rare clear western horizon this evening enabled me to view Venus, for the first time in this current apparition. It will remain an evening object until October.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A rare clear western horizon this evening enabled me to view Venus, for the first time in this current apparition. It will remain an evening object until October.

Did you spot Saturn just below and to the right of it as well? Somewhat faint, of course...

 

[Harvester]

Did you spot Saturn just below and to the right of it as well? Somewhat faint, of course...

No not yesterday evening, as it would have been below the roof tops by the time it was dark enough to pick out…..

 

[Peter Mugridge]

No not yesterday evening, as it would have been below the roof tops by the time it was dark enough to pick out…..

That's unfortunate as that was the only evening Venus would have been close enough to act as a marker before the apparition of Saturn ends; I was foiled as well - by cloud immediately below where Venus was. My first sighting of the current apparition of Venus was on 24th February.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Not exactly a natural phenomenon as such, but I unexpectedly managed to capture a satellite re-entry this evening... poor quality photo below of the back of my camera with my mobile phone.

Reverting to entirely natural; for several evenings now I have been able to pick out Jupiter in daylight, a few minutes before sunset. It helps that it's almost directly overhead at that time and is also very close to quadrature. Venus is also an easy daylight object at the moment - but do beware of where the sun is; make sure you're fully shielded, eg by a building, so you can't accidentally look towards it.

 

[Harvester]

Reverting to entirely natural; for several evenings now I have been able to pick out Jupiter in daylight, a few minutes before sunset. It helps that it's almost directly overhead at that time and is also very close to quadrature. Venus is also an easy daylight object at the moment - but do beware of where the sun is; make sure you're fully shielded, eg by a building, so you can't accidentally look towards it.

I was looking at the pair this evening, and found it hard to appreciate that in only two months time (conjunction on 9th June), the planets will be only a few moon widths apart low in the west after sunset.

 

[Sussex hammer]

I once saw a scotsman put his hand into his wallet and pay for a round of drinks. I kid you not.

Jokes aside, would love to see the Northern lights from a plane or further north from where I am now. Seen a few meteors in the night sky.

Love to be in a proper total eclipse. When we had one in the 2000's, it was a partial eclipse but it was eery and a weird sensation.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Would love to see the Northern lights from a plane or further north from where I am now.

My wife and I were treated to a wonderful display last November (photos in linked post). Utterly captivating

What made you happy today?

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D RTX 5070 Ti (16GB) 32GB Corsair DDR5 memory 2TB SSD And new 27" monitor, Asus gaming keyboard, mouse and headset. It was sooo good opening all this, and of course taking off all the protective plastic! :D Nice set up. The CPU is one of the best compared to Intel...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[GusB]

I once saw a scotsman put his hand into his wallet and pay for a round of drinks. I kid you not.

Watch it, or that hammer will be used to good effect!

Besides, that's definitely not a natural phenomenon and therefore is outwith the scope of the thread

Jokes aside, would love to see the Northern lights from a plane or further north from where I am now. Seen a few meteors in the night sky.

The aurora is a fairly regular sight in this part of the world, although getting a cloudless sky is the biggest issue. The best show I've seen recently was on Hogmanay a few years ago.

 

[Bald Rick]

Love to be in a proper total eclipse. When we had one in the 2000's, it was a partial eclipse but it was eery and a weird sensation.

The total eclipse in August 1999 had a brush with Cornwall, but it was almost total across most of the southern half of the country. However, in eclipse terms ”almost” doth butter no parsnips.

I was in France right in the centre of the line of totality and it was breathtaking.

And weather permitting, I will get to see another this August, where a total eclipse runs across northern Spain and the Balearics. If you want to see one, this is going to be the cheapest and easiest way of doing so for a while. You can get a day trip flight to Palma with easyjet on the day concerned for under £200. Fly in, cab to Arenal, have late lunch, hang around the beach / bar, watch eclipse, cab to airport, fly home.

 

[davews]

Likewise I saw the 1999 eclipse at Salzburg castle and the totality is certainly something you never forget, an eerie silence and wows from everybody when it finishes. The clouds magically cleared just at the right time, it was bucketing down an hour later.

 

[Harvester]

The thin crescent Moon is hanging directly above Venus in the west, at the moment.

 

[weepingwillowb]

Circular rainbow somewhere over the Atlantic.

 

[ABB125]

Circular rainbow somewhere over the Atlantic.

View attachment 202669

Having seen similar on a walk in the Brecon Beacons a few years ago, I looked this up. It's apparently called a "glory". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glory_(optical_phenomenon)
I'll attach one of my pictures shortly

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Apr 2026 ==

Here we go, a glory in the cloud somewhere off Fan Brycheiniog in January 2024.

How come the cloud is below me, I hear you ask? Well, that gives an opportunity to show another picture from a short while later. Possibly the most fascinating weather I've been out in:

The picture doesn't do it justice, but that cloud is visibly rolling off the top and down the side of the hill. We stood there for a good 5 minutes or so just watching - I would say it was genuinely mesmerising. I've only encountered it once since, and not as spectacular

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The thin crescent Moon is hanging directly above Venus in the west, at the moment.

Did you notice the Pleiades ( M45 ) immediately below the moon, having actually been occulted an hour or so before sunset?

 

[Sun Chariot]

View attachment 202676
The picture doesn't do it justice, but that cloud is visibly rolling off the top and down the side of the hill. We stood there for a good 5 minutes or so just watching - I would say it was genuinely mesmerising. I've only encountered it once since, and not as spectacular

What a beautuful imqge and a fascinating backstory. I have stood above the clouds, on France's Aguille Du Midi: but no spectacle such as yours. Many thanks for sharing.

 

[DelW]

Here we go, a glory in the cloud somewhere off Fan Brycheiniog in January 2024.
View attachment 202677
How come the cloud is below me, I hear you ask? Well, that gives an opportunity to show another picture from a short while later. Possibly the most fascinating weather I've been out in:
View attachment 202676
The picture doesn't do it justice, but that cloud is visibly rolling off the top and down the side of the hill. We stood there for a good 5 minutes or so just watching - I would say it was genuinely mesmerising. I've only encountered it once since, and not as spectacular

What a beautuful imqge and a fascinating backstory. I have stood above the clouds, on France's Aguille Du Midi: but no spectacle such as yours. Many thanks for sharing.

I experienced a cloud inversion on the Epynt in mid Wales a few years ago. Unusually (I think) it lasted all day.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Captivating photos, @DelW and thanks too for sharing.
My meagre effort is from terra firma, albeit quite high (Aguille du Midi, France, May '11). That microlight pilot braving Alpine airflows, was arguably more impressive than the clouds...