Wildlife Chronicles

Aurora Borealis - The Northern Lights in the Hebrides

With spring just around the corner, one of the best times to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis in the Hebrides is coming up again.

Many locals have have mentioned the fantastic celestial displays that took place in the autumn.

The aurora can be viewed quite regularly throughout the autumn, winter and spring and although there is a huge amount of luck and timing involved in being able to see this awesome sight, there are certain factors, which combine at certain times of year to increase your chance.

Your best chances are around the equinox (March and late September/ October) as this time of year offers the best trade-off between mild weather and dark skies. Under average conditions observations around local midnight are most likely to yield results.

Although we must point out that a sighting of the aurora is never a guarantee, the combination of the absence of streetlights and city haze, and the fresh Atlantic winds which keep our skies relatively clear make the islands one of the best places for looking out for the northern lights in the UK. In any case, in clear weather the night skies are stunning displays of more stars than you could ever imagine if you're used to a city sky. With the total peace and quiet of the land around you, the solitude you can experience on deserted beaches and hills and the complete safety you feel when outside in the dark, the experience will be a rewarding one even if you aren't lucky enough to see the aurora borealis itself.

The aurora is basically an incredible phenomenon of streamers and bands of coloured lights, which appear in the sky near the poles. They are most active in Arctic and Antarctic regions but are visible to a lesser degree in other zones close by. The streamers and bands of light can move instantaneously creating new designs, which light up sections of the sky.

Although viewing the lights is a nighttime activity, aurora borealis has its origins in the sun. The sun emits streams of plasma (clouds of high energy charged particles), which are known as the solar winds. When these winds hit the edge of the earth magnetic field, some of the particles are trapped and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the ionosphere. (Section of the atmosphere, which extends 60-600 km above the earth’s surface). The particles in these winds collide with the gases of the atmosphere and start to emit light. The colours consist of green, blue, violet and red. The lights appear to be moving due to the changing interaction of the solar winds and the earth’s magnetic field.

If you would like to try and capture the aurora on film, then the best equipment to take is a camera that will permit you to make long exposures (>10 secs) and a tripod. Most camcorders are not sensitive enough to see the aurora and will mostly just record a faint smoky image.

Good luck with any aurora sighting trips, we hope you manage to see this spectacular natural phenomenon, which really humbles our place on this planet.

WEBSITES OF INTEREST:

www.hebrides-photos.com - Images of the Aurora taken on Lewis in the Hebrides.
www.spaceweather.com - Website on near space phenomena.