Northern lights expected to shine over Aberdeen tonight

A SPECTACULAR show of the Northern Lights is being predicted for tonight.
The Northern Lights are expected to appear in spectacular fashion tonight. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA WireThe Northern Lights are expected to appear in spectacular fashion tonight. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire
The Northern Lights are expected to appear in spectacular fashion tonight. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Weather conditions are expected to produce one of the best showings of Aurora Borealis over northern Europe, including the UK.

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According to online website Aurora Watch, run by space physicists at Lancaster University, there will be a major amount of ‘solar activitity’ which could lead to an incredible display.

The website states: “Aurora Alert!

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“Tonight could be an incredible show of northern lights! If the predictions are accurate, northern lights may appear in the skies above the UK, Ireland, Estonia, Denmark, Northern Germany and possibly a few others (as well as the usual suspects) tonight.

“This could be the best night of northern lights we’ve had in quite some time.

“So charge those camera batteries people and head out when it gets dark.

“Look to the northern horizon and you might just get lucky tonight! Unfortunately I am in the mountains of Norway and it’s raining like crazy, so no lights for me tonight, so I wish you guys the best of luck.”

The bright dancing lights of the aurora are collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere.

The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.

They are known as ‘Aurora borealis’ in the north and ‘Aurora australis’ in the south.

According to the Northern Lights Centre website: “Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common.

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“Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.

“The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth’s atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun’s atmosphere.

“Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding.

“The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth.

“Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.”