Mapperley was treated to the spectacle of the Aurora Polaris over the weekend of 12th October 2024. This was a rare occurrence so far south from the North Pole. The popular term for this phenomenon is the Northern Lights, but what causes them?
The shimmering spectacle occurs when energy and charged particles released from the Sun through coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares travel towards Earth on the solar wind and collide with the Earth’s magnetic field and upper atmosphere, interacting with gases to create spectacular displays of blue, purple, green, pink and red.
If the solar activity is strong enough, it will cause a geomagnetic storm.
The higher the level of geomagnetic activity, the greater the chance of seeing the lights at lower latitudes and potentially across the UK.
In May 2024, a large and complex sunspot cluster produced strong solar flares that formed an extreme geomagnetic storm, the strongest in 20 years – with the highest G5 rating given.
This meant that the colourful display could be seen across the UK.
Here are a selection of images sent to us:
This one was taken on Sandford Road looking over Mapperley Top
This was looking over St Judes Church on Woodborough Road
This one was taken from Woodthorpe Drive looking over the Breck Hill Recreation Ground.
These were taken from a back garden in Carlton using an iPhones for over an hour.
