News

In Pictures: Another spectacular display as Northern Lights burn brightly

In Pictures: Another spectacular display as Northern Lights burn brightly
The aurora borealis lit up the skies above The Kissing Trees near Kinghorn in Fife (PA)
PA Wire/PA Images - Jane Barlow

The Northern Lights have lit up skies across the UK and Ireland – with areas as far south as Kent being treated to bright pink and green hues.

Clear and crisp conditions, matched with the sun nearing the peak of its solar cycle, have led to astonishing displays in the night sky.

Northern Lights as seen on the causeway leading to Holy Island in NorthumberlandAurora displays occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles (Owen Humphreys/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Owen Humphreys

The Northern Lights, also known as the aurora borealis, on display in the skies above the Forth Bridge, North Queensferry in FifeAs the particles collide with the atmosphere, light is emitted at various wavelengths, creating colourful displays in the sky (Jane Barlow/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jane Barlow

Northern Lights above NorthumberlandHere, a refuge hut on the causeway to Holy Island in Northumberland gives a sense of the display’s majestic scale (Owen Humphreys/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Owen Humphreys

A spectacular pink and green Northern Lights display above the UKThe auroras on Earth, which are most commonly seen over high polar latitudes but can spread south, are chiefly influenced by geomagnetic storms which originate from activity on the Sun (Owen Humphreys/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Owen Humphreys

The Northern Lights over DublinThe Northern Lights were also visible in Ireland, with this scene captured in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Brian Lawless

An eye-catching display above Great Chart Church in Ashford, KentAn eye-catching display above Great Chart Church in Ashford, Kent – showcasing how far south the aurora was visible (Gareth Fuller/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Gareth Fuller

Northern Lights above Felixstowe, SuffolkThese images from Felixstowe, Suffolk, illustrate the peak of the solar activity which produced the aurora (Ella Pickover/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Ella Pickover

TheA lovely match of foreground and background as the lights appear over Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island in Northumberland (Owen Humphreys/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Owen Humphreys

Northern Lights over the North of EnglandThe sun works on a cycle of around 11 years called the solar cycle – with peak sunspot activity on the surface of the sun referred to as solar maximum (Owen Humphreys/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Owen Humphreys

Northern Lights above ScotlandSunspots give the potential for Earth-directed releases of large bursts of energy, called coronal mass ejections, which can lead to aurora visibility (Jane Barlow/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jane Barlow

The Conversation (0)
x