Brits have a good chance of seeing the stunning Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, tonight if there are clear skies while a mysterious “alien” comet is also passing by Earth
Stargazers have a treat tonight with a chance to see the stunning Northern Lights as well as a mysterious “alien” comet.
Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, are a natural light display in the Earth’s sky, appearing as shimmering waves or curtains of colour, predominantly green, pink, and red. The striking colours have long captivated humans and we now know that they are down to charged particles from the Sun, or solar winds, colliding with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
And if you have clear skies tonight you may have the opportunity to see amazing colours although the further north the better. The Met Office states: “Fast solar winds have the potential to bring periods of Minor geomagnetic storms on Tuesday into Wednesday before easing through the rest of the week.
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“This will bring the possibility of visible aurora for Scotland and similar geomagnetic latitudes, with a slight chance of glimpses as far south as northern England or Northern Ireland, although this is low confidence.”
And an amber alert was also issued by Lancaster University showing that there is a likelihood of seeing the Northern Lights due to geomagnetic activity.
It states: Aurora is likely to be visible by eye from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland; possibly visible from elsewhere in the UK. Photographs of aurora are likely from anywhere in the UK.
But as well as the spectacular Northern Lights, there has been plenty of talk about an interstellar comet 3I/Atlas after it was first sighted from a telescope in Chile in July – where it was confirmed that it had come from another star system.
At that stage, it was 416 million miles from the sun, out near Jupiter, and heading this way at a blistering 37 miles per second. And NASA said it is currently scooting by the Earth as it makes its closest approach to the sun.
There has also been plenty of debate about the comet due to its unusual appearance and behaviour, with Harvard theoretical physicist Avi Loeb warning for months that the object could be an “extraterrestrial artefact”, which may be about to make first contact with Earth today.
While he has received plenty of criticism because of his theories, the latest developments show an interesting development in the object.
Hubble Space Telescope images captured the “comet” with an unusual “anti-tail” – a jet of particles streaming towards the Sun. New high-resolution observations from the Nordic Optical Telescope in the Canary Islands confirm the anti-tail seen in July and August has vanished.
While NASA claims the object will simply pass us by untouched – Mr Loeb think it is up to no good, reported the Daily Star. He told science communicator and author Mayim Bialik: “If you want to take a vacation, take it before [October 29], because who knows what will happen?”
