BBC Sky at Night

EXPLAINER

What’s behind the UK’s big aurora displays?

This aurora season has proved a good one so far, particularly for aurorawatchers in the UK, with numerous newspaper reports of Northern Lights seen in the UK since September. This is likely due to an uptick in solar activity as part of the solar cycle, but before we go into that, let’s think about what causes the aurora in general.

The aurora is an incredible light

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