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Monday, March 7, 2016

Northern Lights Stage Spectacular UK Show

The Northern Lights provided a spectacular show for stargazers in parts of the UK overnight.
The phenomenon known as the Aurora Borealis was visible as far south as Oxfordshire as skies cleared, painting the night sky with shades of green, pink, purple and blue.
The ethereal spectacle is caused when solar particles are thrown out into space and collide with the Earth's magnetic field.
In the UK, it is usually only visible in the far north of Scotland.
However, a "lucky combination" of conditions in the lower atmosphere and in space meant the aurora was visible across large parts of Scotland and England.
Met Office space weather adviser Amanda Townsend said: "Once in a while the solar winds are enhanced to levels stronger than normal, with particles at higher speeds, and on this occasion it has connected really well with the Earth's magnetic field."
Those who missed Sunday night's show will have a second opportunity to see the dazzling performance tonight.
"The strongest part of the geomagnetic storm has passed and it probably won't be as strong on Monday night, so the main places to see aurora will be in north Scotland," Ms Townsend added.

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