Watch the Sky Tonight

Find a dark place over the next few nights and look up.  Ahh, a dark place OUTSIDE that is.  We have two astronomical phenomenon this week.  The first is the annual Perseid meteor shower which generally starts around 11 August each year.  The second is very special: the Aurora or Northern Lights.

NASA is reporting a massive coronal ejection from the Sun which is likely to reach Earth today.  This is likely to cause the first display display of Northern Lights (Aurora) seen in this part of the UK for many years.  The colourful display is likely to last for severl nights starting tonight.

You will need to wait and hope the cloud cover will disappear.  A dark location is desirable as the Northern Lights are normally quite dim.  Look northwards for bands of light in the sky.  These can take various shapes and patterns and often change colour quite rapidly varying from green to blue to red.

Auroras occur when charged particles ejected by the Sun interact with the earth’s magnetic field.  That field protects the earth from any harm.  And it produces one of nature’s greatest light shows.

Warnings have been issued by NASA saying that power outages and communications difficulties may result from the Sun’s outburst.  The Sun goes through cycles of light and heavy activity.  For many years the Sun has remained relatively quiet.  Earlier this year scientists predicted a sudden increase in activity which appears to have begun with vigor this past weekend.  Interestingly, the added solar activity is likely to increase our global warming/climate change worries.  The current extreme weather patterns in Russia, Pakistan and China this summer and the continuing droughts in Australia and the western United States have not YET been affected by increased solar activity. 

[editor's note:  If you capture any photos please send them to the HI Courier for publication.  They can be sent via email to mail@hicourier.co.uk ]