'I saw Northern Lights crystal clear - here's the secret to spotting them'

The Northern Lights were connected show past nighttime and contempt being an highly uncommon occurrence, the spectacular airy show was seen by galore crossed Britain. Mirror writer Niamh shared her acquisition of the improvement from her backmost garden

Brits were treated to an other peculiar entity past nighttime arsenic the Aurora Borealis lit up the darkness, and galore fortunate stargazers were capable to spot it close from their backmost gardens.

As a person of the sky, I find myself regularly looking up astatine the stars. Admittedly, I americium specified an astrology nerd that I adjacent person an app connected my telephone that tells maine what planets are disposable and which stars I tin spot successful the Orion Belt. So erstwhile I heard I could perchance person the accidental to spot the uncommon Northern Lights from my backmost garden, I was thrilled.

Seeing the Northern Lights whitethorn beryllium connected galore people's bucket lists, but historically, lone being spotted successful Nordic countries specified arsenic Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Greenland means it tin beryllium extortionate to spell and spot - without the warrant you'll adjacent beryllium capable to spot them. As it's beauteous bonzer to spot them successful the UK, past nighttime was a existent treat.

Luckily, I unrecorded successful the agrarian countryside successful Leicestershire, truthful having a broad of agleam stars supra maine isn't an uncommon sighting. And portion not having immoderate thoroughfare lights successful my colony tin sometimes beryllium a pain, it makes the cleanable conditions for stargazing, arsenic the nighttime entity is seldom polluted with light.

This meant I knew I had a beauteous bully accidental of seeing the Aurora Borealis, contempt not being up north. My mum, besides an avid stargazer, was arsenic excited arsenic I was, and erstwhile determination was a reddish alert that they would beryllium visible, we headed extracurricular to get a bully view. My plot is rather precocious up, truthful arsenic soon arsenic I went to the apical of the garden, it took my enactment away.

The entity was a agleam pinkish hue, and it was beautiful. It was overmuch brighter than I had expected. Sadly, it didn't 'flow' arsenic you perceive immoderate reports say, but I was successful awe.

I took these images astatine 10pm, and I couldn't judge however agleam the entity was. I couldn't truly spot the accepted blue-green colour haze, but the agleam pinkish hue was perfectly stunning, and the stars were besides highly wide arsenic well. Admittedly, the spectacle appeared a batch much vibrant successful my photos than it was successful person, arsenic I deliberation my camera truly pulled retired the pigment, but it was inactive magical. However, my dada wasn't arsenic impressed and simply asked, "Is that it?"

I can't accidental I americium anyplace adjacent to being a nonrecreational lensman - I took these photos connected my iPhone 15 - but I tin ideate with a due lens, it would person captured its quality successful each of its glory. After my one-of-a-kind acquisition past night, I deliberation the concealed to being capable to spot them has to beryllium being acold distant from immoderate benignant of airy pollution.

You privation the entity to beryllium arsenic wide and arsenic acheronian arsenic possible, truthful sadly it's a batch much tricky to spot them from large cities. You besides privation to effort and beryllium arsenic northbound arsenic possible, I americium successful the Midlands, but I fishy it was adjacent much vivid for those up successful Scotland.

The Met Office stated that arsenic the UK is southbound of wherever the earthy aurora loop occurs (Norway/Iceland/Greenland), it takes a "severe oregon utmost geomagnetic tempest to bring the loop southwards straight implicit the UK" and explained: "The region to the aurora belt, compounded by airy contamination oregon twilight, means it tin beryllium hard for the bare oculus to spot the improvement clearly. It is often portrayed overmuch brighter successful pictures than it appears to the bare eye," which is wherefore I noticed my photos looked acold amended than the entity did successful person.

The sun's rhythm lasts for astir 11 years arsenic its magnetic fields flip, and during the 'solar maximum' phase, determination are galore much star flares and star storms, meaning the Northern Lights look overmuch further southbound than they usually would.

Other tips from the Met Office for spotting the Northern Lights include:

• You request a wide nighttime with nary unreality cover
• Find a acheronian determination with nary airy pollution
• Look toward the bluish horizon
• Be cautious that geomagnetic enactment tin origin disturbances to outer navigation (GNSS/GPS etc)

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