Cumbria was treated to a spectacular Northern Lights display last night.
The Northern Lights – also known as the aurora borealis – are caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Last night saw the county experience a particularly vibrant display, as the Sun is in an active period and experiencing a number of eruptions on its surface, called coronal mass ejections.
These eruptions send solar particles towards the Earth, that interact with our atmosphere and result in the aurora displays we see in the sky.
Colours in the lights are the result of different gases in the atmosphere being energised by the charged particles. Oxygen atoms glow green, while nitrogen atoms glow pink, blue and purple.
People across Cumbria were able to spot last night’s aurora with the naked eye and some lucky skygazers were able to capture the lights on camera.
Photographer Jonny Gios, of Jonny Gios Photography, managed to capture several stunning images of the lights.
Jonny said the aurora was an amazing display and visible to the naked eye so strongly it lit up the sky red.
He caught the lights on a Sony A7r5 and spotted them over Shap, Lowther, Ullswater, Dockray, Mungrisdale and Caldbeck.
Paul Byers also managed to capture a video of the lights over his home in Broughton Moor.
He took the video using a Nikon Z6 camera and said the lights were visible to the naked eye, even with partial moon and street lighting around.
Will we see them again tonight?
The Met Office is expecting conditions to remain good for aurora watching tonight also.
Two coronal mass ejections have already arrived on Earth, with one on Tuesday night, and one earlier this morning.
Another ejection is expected tonight, moving into Thursday morning.
The weather forecaster said the enhanced aurora may persist through to Thursday morning, with the best conditions expected to be before midnight tonight.
It is expected in parts of the northern UK and similar geomagnetic latitudes – but is also dependent on cloud cover, which can impact viewing conditions.
Are we experiencing a geomagnetic storm?
Geomagnetic storms are caused by disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field, which are caused by coronal mass ejections and solar flares.
The Met Office have reported that the northern hemisphere will have three coronal mass ejections arrive from the sun. Two of which have already arrived and one is set to come later tonight.
It added that as a result, there is a chance a strong geomagnetic storm could be triggered today into Thursday.
The storms can be dangerous for astronauts and can disrupt satellites – but are not harmful to people on Earth, as the atmosphere protects the planet from the storm’s radiation.
But they can sometimes disrupt satellites, things like GPS, spacecraft, powergrids and electronic devices.
Did you spot the lights last night? We’d love to see your photos! Email [email protected]
