Northern Lights to Dazzle North East of England
Strong activity from the Sun in recent days has the Astronomy community across the Northern Hemisphere excited over the increased chances to view the northern lights (or the “aurora borealis”) over the North East of England tonight and tomorrow. Some mainstream and astronomic news sources go as far as to claim the northern lights could be visible as far south as Southern England and Southern Wales.
Geomagnetic storms on the surface of the Sun blasted coronal mass ejections (CMEs) toward the Earth on Tuesday. The intensity of the storms have been especially strong this week. Stargazers in Scotland have already had the good fortune to see the northern lights this week, and tonight the chances are once again raised right here in the North East of England.
Tuesday’s CME was combined with a “moderately strong” solar flare that appears to be heading in the direction of Earth.
The best chance to see this wonderful natural phenomenon is to get out into the darkness away from light pollution created by street lights from our towns and cities.
The nearby Northumberland International Dark Sky Park (NDSP) – (one of the largest in the world recently joined the likes of Death Valley and Big Bend Dark Sky Parks in America with world class dark sky park status) could be the ideal place to view the northern lights if the skies are clear enough tonight and tomorrow.
