In this paper, we present results from spontaneous ignition of aluminium particle clouds in a series of shock tube experiments. For all experiments, the shock propagates along a narrow pile of 40-$$\upmu $$ μ m aluminium particles. The study includes shock Mach numbers in the range from 1.51 to 2.38. The results are visualised using photographic techniques and pressure gauges. The combination of two Phantom high-speed video cameras and a beamsplitter allows a compact schlieren setup mounted together with a dark-film high-speed camera. While the schlieren technique allows the shock features to be identified, the dark-film camera is used to capture the ignition and burning of the aluminium particle clouds. Based on extensive image processing and shock tube relations for reflected shocks, spontaneous ignition of the aluminium particle cloud is found to take place for reflected shock gas temperatures above 635 K. For increasing Mach numbers, we find a decreasing trend for the ignition delay. Additionally, the burning time is observed to decrease with increasing Mach number, indicating that the burning process is more efficient with increasing gas temperature.