Northern Lights - 11 October 2024

Last night when my friend went out to walk her small dog she returned very quickly and asked me if I thought the sky was a bit pink. We started looking and then remembered the famous northern lights display we missed over the summer. We decided to stay out to give it another chance.

Very soon a couple more friends joined us outside to watch the sky. Actually it was a bit hard to see a lot but then if you use your phone it all becomes much brighter and clearer. It’s like magic.

Unfortunately my phone was charging at the time so the photos were kindly given by my friend to use here and I've taken them from my laptop screen. I'm really keen to go out again tonight to see if we can catch any more displays and whether my camera can take good photos.

_{You can just see some stars in this photo}

In the UK there’s been a lot of information online about this event. I enjoyed reading this short article because it gave a bit of background of this phenomenon.

These beautiful displays arise from activity on the sun. During events known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the sun spews out plasma – a super-hot gas made up of charged particles. When these particles head towards Earth, they can interact with the planet’s magnetic field, resulting in a geomagnetic storm.

One crucial point you must remember is to carry your phone because you may not be able to see such vivid colours otherwise. In fact the same article I linked above advises to take photos using :

a long exposure or night mode will be the best way to know if the aurora truly is happening above your head

Thank you for reading !