The Northern Lights can be seen from the UK tonight due to an ongoing geomagnetic storm.
The northern lights, also known as the Northern Lights, are a fairly rare sight in the UK, and when they can be seen, it’s often only in the northernmost parts of the country. However, earlier this year they were visible as far south as Devon and Cornwall.
If the aurora lights up the UK sky tonight, it is likely to be further north. The Aurora Meteorological Bureau’s forecast reads: “The improvement in solar wind conditions currently observed is likely to mark an improvement in the Aurora oval tonight, with the likelihood of such events decreasing over the weekend.” Expected activity could show observed auroras over Scotland and similar geomagnetic latitudes.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Northern Lights and tips on how to see them.
What is Northern Lights?
The northern lights are caused by solar activity and are the result of the collision of charged particles in the solar wind with molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The Met Office explains: “Solar winds are charged particles blowing away from the Sun at about a million miles per hour. When the magnetic polarity of the solar wind is opposite to the Earth’s magnetic field, the two magnetic fields combine and allow these energetic particles to flow towards the Earth’s north and south magnetic poles. Auroras usually occur in a ring called an annulus (a ring about 3,000 kilometers in diameter), centered around the magnetic pole. The arrival of a coronal mass ejection from the Sun could cause the ring to expand, bringing the aurora to lower latitudes. Under these circumstances, lights can be seen in Britain.”
Depending on which gas molecules are hit and where they are in the atmosphere, different amounts of energy are released in the form of different wavelengths of light.
Oxygen gives off a green light when it hits 60 miles above the Earth, while rare all-red auroras appear at 100-200 miles. Nitrogen makes the sky glow blue and takes on a purple hue when it is higher in the atmosphere.
How can I see the northern lights today?
The Northern Lights can be seen mainly in Scotland, Northern England, North Wales and Northern Ireland.
The best conditions for watching the lights are when the sky is dark and without clouds. This means that the best time to see them is after sunset, around 6:20 pm.
Ideally, the lights are best seen away from any light pollution in remote areas facing the northern horizon. The northern shores offer some of the best vantage points.
Aurora Watch UK Twitter account and a website run by space physicists at Lancaster University tweets when the northern lights can be seen from the UK.
It predicts a peak in geomagnetic activity between 9:00 pm and 4:00 am, peaking just after midnight.
Source: I News
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