+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Check out the incredible Northern Lights visible above the UK last night

Mar 18, 2015, 15:18 IST

An incredible display of the Northern Lights, or Aurora borealis, was visible across northern Europe, Scandinavia, and Iceland last night.

Advertisement

Slooh Community Observatory broadcast the light show live from Iceland, and put together the highlights in the clip below.


In this view from Iceland, the sky turned an intense green colour, coincidentally on St. Patrick's Day.

Juan Carlos Casado, SLOOH/IAC Expedition

The sky above Pilisszentkereszt - 26 kilometres north of Budapest, Hungary - turned purple.

Advertisement

AP Photo/MTI,Balazs Mohai

The Northern Lights are caused when charged particles from the sun crash into oxygen and nitrogen molecules in our atmosphere.

Solar flares create solar wind and electromagnetic radiation that hits the magnetic field surrounding Earth.

While most of it bounces off, some of the solar wind and radiation slips through and collides with particles in Earth's atmosphere. The energy excites atoms and causes them to give off different colours, like green, blue, or red.

Advertisement
Slooh

Slooh

Photographer David Mccolm shared these fantastic photos on Twitter.

NOW WATCH: This 9-year-old makes $1 million a year opening toys

Please enable Javascript to watch this video
Next Article