This evening the skies were clear so I went outside for an hour at 10pm. Here on Barra light pollution is at an absolute minimum and once I cleared the nearby houses, it was pitch black and the sky was full of stars. To the north I could see the dancing Northern Lights, nowhere near as bright or as colourful as you see in photos, I only ever seem to see a dull greenish glow to the north, but still a great sight. I think the best display would have been last night, but we didn't have the clear skies then. In one memorable moment, what looked like a spotlight appeared low on the horizon and shone a green beam of light across the sky. It was almost like some huge rock concert happening to the north. Then the spotlight disappeared and all was black again.
Except that all wasn't black, because much more impressive than the Northern Lights, overhead was the amazing Milky Way. The only time that I have seen this so well before was in New Zealand in 2020. Looking at it through binoculars it's just a staggering amount of stars forming what looks to the naked eye like a grey misty band across the black sky. 100–400 billion stars apparently make up the Milky Way, and at least that number of planets.
Then over the east I could see the planet Jupiter glowing bright, the biggest planet in our solar system who's gravitational pull can be felt here on earth. Tonight I could even see a couple of its moons through binoculars. As I watched, a shooting star appeared, it shot across the sky and then went out as quickly as it had appeared. Time for bed.
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