With The Northern Lights deciding to come to us this year, many people had the long awaited excuse to get outdoors.
As you might have been made aware, by the barrage of pictures and posts on social media, the UK was graced by a solar phenomenon.
Mathew Turpin, heard about the Northern lights coming to the UK earlier in the week. When the night finally came, he saw the remnants of purple dwindling lights and had to find a better spot.
Now for a short science lesson, an Aurora Borealis or ‘the northern lights’ is formed when the sun’s energised particles react with the Earth’s magnetic field.
Particles wham into the oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere. The green and red are from Oxygen, while blue and purple are from nitrogen. Ten days ago this particular meteorological miracle occurred across the UK, during the largest solar storm in 20 years.
With the drastic light pollution which blocks our view of the night sky, the spectacle coming to the UK was a great excuse to escape the city and enjoy the open night-sky.
This is exactly what Matt did. He first noticed the lights when having a drink with some friends in the garden. “I knew I had to get to somewhere high up and open to make the most of this.
“I instantly thought of my local park, I dropped everything I was doing and ran for it. It was only about 2.5km but it was completely uphill and I hadn’t been on a run in a while. I felt so good. I don’t know whether it was the lights or the run but it was a banging night!”
Sharing these experiences has never been easier, with the upgrade of technology. Mobile phones are now able to capture more beautiful images of the night sky. Piling on more reasons to get outdoors.
Matt, “What’s even better about the whole thing. I was able to rub it into my mates faces when they didn’t want to come. Showing them how much of a better view they missed out on.”
So next time you hear something special happening in the night sky. Or you just need an excuse to get away from the city lights, you know what to do. Head out, into an open space available to you and enjoy the long-forgotten nights sky.
