24042023

2023 April 24 (local Melbourne time)

On April 21, a magnetic filament erupted from the Sun creating an Earth-directed full halo CME that sparked a G4-class geomagnetic storm conditions in the early morning hours of April 24 Melbourne time. The storm persisted during Melbourne's daytime and G3-class conditions continued as evening twilight faded in clear skies over southern Victoria. The strongly negative B_z and D_st values, however, were steadily rising and the visual observations indicated that the storm was subsiding. From Tooradin, a faint (pinkish?) glow and several weak beams could be seen visually which were readily recorded in the camera as a yellow-green arc, red structures and hints of violet above. By 9:30pm, the aurora continued to glow, but had clearly subsided to the point that it was time to head home.

	6:59pm AEST, looking south, barely visible to the eye. Nice colours presented in a field of stars. Canon 5D Mk II + 24-70mm f2.8 zoom lens at 25mm, f3.5, 30secs, ISO2500.
	7:16pm AEST, looking a little east of south, the EMU is prominent and the beam was visible to the eye. Canon 5D Mk II + 24-70mm f2.8 zoom lens at 25mm, f3.5, 30secs, ISO2500.
	8:04pm AEST, looking a little west of south; the Magellanic Clouds are prominent and the reddish glow is structured by many faint beams. Canon 5D Mk II + 24-70mm f2.8 zoom lens at 25mm, f2.8, 30secs, ISO2500.
	8:51pm AEST, looking a little west of south; the Magellanic Clouds are prominent and the reddish glow is structured by many faint beams. Probably the best view of the display Canon 5D Mk II + 24-70mm f2.8 zoom lens at 25mm, f2.8, 30secs, ISO2500.