- The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are a beautiful show of multi-coloured visible light.
- Northern Lights are mainly observed in the night sky near the North Pole.
A beautiful display of the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, was recently enjoyed by people throughout the UK, from either the Shetland Islands to Somerset as well as from Norfolk to Northern Ireland. So what brings about this lovely phenomenon, and why does it manifest so far south?
The Mysterious Northern Lights
People have associated the mysterious northern lights well with the world of wandering ghosts for thousands of years. Yet science has known for a century that aurorae come from the region around our planet. The magnetosphere is the name for the area of space close to Earth. It is a mixture of broken and heated solar radiation atoms and molecules from the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Whenever these electrically charged particles fall into the upper atmosphere, the aurora borealis is produced. Electrons make up most of the initial particles that trigger the light—the aurora dances and shimmers in the sky when precipitation patterns change. The Earth’s magnetic field accelerates electrons downward in the direction of the Polar Regions.
The Science behind Northern Lights
Every second, the Sun releases a few million tonnes of particles that combine to produce solar wind, continuously circulating our solar system. The planets are covered in a magnetized steam of subatomic particles thanks to the solar wind’s ability to carry away remains of the Sun’s strong magnetic field. The northern lights are generated by encounters between winds and the Earth’s magnetosphere. What occurred this week to cause aurorae at considerably lower latitudes than usual?
Scientists detected two solar flares ejections from the Sun the previous week. An emission of material from the Sun’s atmosphere of a planet is known as a Coronal Mass Ejections. These explosions occur a few times a month and have the power to launch billions of tonnes of material in practically any direction.
The Northern Lights Visual in the UK
The first CME was released from the solar system on February 24, and the next did so late on February 25. In actuality, both of these CMEs fired at Earth. The first CME hit the magnetosphere on February 26 at roughly 7 p.m. (UK time) after traveling 150 million kilometers at an average speed of 3 million kilometers per hour. A billion tonnes of electrically charged, highly magnetized material colliding caused a geomagnetic storm, a significant disruption of the Earth’s magnetosphere.
Intense auroral displays were caused by particles in the magnetosphere accelerating into Earth’s atmosphere and expanding faster and further towards the equator beyond typical. In the UK, the geomagnetic storm occurred in the early evening. Despite being dark, most people were waking up, and the atmosphere was pleasant, with bright skies across most of the nation. Images of the aurora coming from as far south as Kent overwhelmed social media timelines. The coronal mass ejection grew over the following few hours, probably encouraging more people to look at the sky.
A space scientist studying the interactions between the Sun and Earth told the media that my phone started ringing by late Sunday night. When there is a visible auroral display in the UK, the media frequently gets in touch with me because I can assure everyone what time will be their next appearance in the UK. Though it’s difficult to say, things are looking up. An 11-year solar cycle varies the Sun’s activity, with CMEs more common during the cycle’s active phases. As we approach the following solar maximum, predicted to occur in 2025, solar activity is currently rising. Continue keeping an eye on the skies and social media.
