Orkney Startrails and other surprises!

I went out to the Ring O Brodgar to try some startrails shots tonight. It was to be a clear sky and what better foreground interest than an ancient standing stone?

Despite being in the middle of nowhere I encountered a few similar problems as when I tried to do them at Beecraigs. Car headlights, super bright moon (you can see the horrible burnt out area on the right that I couldn't rid of with my current software), unable to see anything through the viewfinder so having to guess the composition and so on....

I have to say, watching the moon-rise was pretty amazing. I spotted a wierd orange dot appear over the hills and it kept getting bigger and bigger until I realised it was the moon. It would have been fabulous to have taken shots of it every 10 minutes on the same negative.

(I'll download the image from my compact and if it's decent enough I'll put it on here)

So, whilst I was taking the startrail shot I was watching the gorgeous night sky and what occurs????? The Aurora Borealis!!!
It wasn't strong but it lasted longer than when I first saw it. The photo didn't take very well as it was so faint but at least I managed to catch something on camera this time.