Crowds of people gathered on Holgates Green on Sunday night to watch the Aurora Borealis. The first sightings of the aurorae came at around 9 pm. At that time, the aurorae were quite faint. Vertical ?beams’ of red could be seen between Ursa Major (part of which is known as the ‘Plough? or ‘Big Dipper?) and the northern horizon.
Sunday night’s show was caused by Friday’s solar activity.
At 10 pm, the show had moved eastward, and the aurorae were at their strongest. A huge greeny blue light could be seen on the northern horizon. The red beams became stronger, they were like ‘spotlights’ above the cloud. The scene was similar to the picture above, just not as distinct, but as spectacular.
After a time, the aurorae faded away, before returning for last show at midnight.
bWhat Are Aurorae?/b
Aurorae are caused by charged particles from the Sun being trapped in Van Allen Belts around the Earth. These particles cascade downwards, producing aurorae. Aurorae occur at a height of 100 to 1000 km. Aurorae are best seen when the Sun is active in a certain time of the year: February, March, September or October. Major displays of aurorae, such as tonight’s display, are uncommon this far from the poles.
“I?ve never seen anything like it before in my life, and never will again,” commented one local.