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Jeff M @jeffnmark • Mar 17 M81 in Ursa Major. About 2.5 hrs of 3-minute exposures, using a @zwoasi 533MC camera @ IM_SKYWATCHER 200PDS 8” telescope, EQ6r mount, ZWO 224 guide camera, controlled with an AsiAir. @skyatnightmag @AstroHour321 #pixinsight

A landmark aurora

Thank you for your article ‘Chasing the Aurora’ by Tom Kerrs (March 2021 issue, page 28). This rekindled memories of a boyhood conversation on the aurora borealis with my grandfather, Frederick Walter Mann (1905-98), who encouraged my early interest in astronomy. He recalled seeing the dramatic aurora of 25 January 1938, one of the rare occasions a display was visible across the whole of Great Britain as far south (1974), the predominant colour was red but, “I recorded many other hues as well.” The display caused considerable interest and alarm across the country, including the fear among some people in southern England that the dramatic red glow filling the sky meant the whole of London was on fire.