Northern Lights brighten Britain’s sky overnight & there’s a ‘high chance’ you’ll catch them again – best places to see
THE NORTHERN Lights dazzled stargazers across Britain last night – and there’s a chance you’ll be able to see them again soon.
People in northern Scotland are often best placed to see the aurora borealis – and last night was no exception – but the dazzling display was visible in other parts of the country too.
A positive aurora sighting was logged between 9.45pm and 10pm near Inverness, Scotland last night.
Some light green lights were also seen in western Edinburgh, and one person posted a positive sighting as far south as Poole, at around 3am.
Dazzling images taken in North Tyneside, Flintshire and Northumberland also show the dazzling green and pink lights recently lighting up the skies.
Scientists at Lancaster University who run the monitoring website AuroraWatch UK posted a “Red alert” on X at 1.21am this morning, saying aurora was “likely”.
An “Amber alert” – meaning the aurora was “possible” – was posted at 7.21am today.
Skygazers can also catch a glimpse of a meteor shower this week as the Earth travels through a cloud of comet debris.
The meteor shower, also known as the Giacobinids, should peak between Tuesday and Wednesday, taking place from Sunday to Thursday.
While most other meteor showers are best seen in the early hours, the Draconids are best seen in the evening, after nightfall.
Finding a location with an unobstructed horizon and very little light pollution is recommended for seeing the meteor shower.
Aurora borealis were spotted across in all four nations over the weekend, following several displays visible from British skies already this year.
It comes after a coronal mass ejection (CMEs) erupted from an active sun spot recently.
Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.
This flare is classified as an X9.0 flare. According to Nasa, X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.
Last night was likely the last chance to see Northern Lights from this current eruption, but more are likely in the coming weeks and months as the sun approaches solar maximum.
Met Office spokesperson Andrea Bishop earlier told The Sun: “There is a slight chance of seeing aurora across the north of Scotland during Monday night and into Tuesday morning, depending on cloud cover.
“This is due to ongoing Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) affects chiefly, from an arrival on Sunday.
“From [Tuesday] onwards, we expect to see a gradual reduction in the chances of aurora, with any activity likely to remain confined to northern Scotland if at all.”
She added: “The Sun goes through an 11-year solar cycle and at the moment, the Sun is approaching something called ‘solar maximum’ which is when it is most active and there is a higher chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis.
“Scientists only know if solar maximum has happened six months after the event.
“Current predictions suggest we could reach solar maximum at the end of 2024 or early 2025.”
Auroras – how do they work?
Here’s the official explanation from Nasa…
- The dancing lights of the auroras provide spectacular views on the ground, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun
- Auroras are one effect of such energetic particles.
- These particles can speed out from the sun from giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs and solar flares, explosions of radiation on the sun
- After a trip toward Earth that can last two to three days, the solar particles and magnetic fields cause the release of particles already trapped near Earth, which in turn trigger reactions in the upper atmosphere in which oxygen and nitrogen molecules release photons of light
- The result: the Northern and Southern lights.