De-light-ful images of Aurora Borealis
Keen Wearside photographers have captured the Northern Lights in all their glory.
Dean Matthews and Glen Hamilton sent us these wonderful snaps that were taken near Souter Lighthouse, at Whitburn.
The photographs, taken on Thursday night, show an incredible mix of orange, blue, green and purple light in the sky.
Amateur photographer Dean said it was the best Aurora Borealis display he had ever captured.
The 38-year-old dad, who works as a taxi driver, added: “It was a really strong one. I got one in Sunderland last month on Mother’s Day that I thought was a strong Aurora Borealis, but it wasn’t as good as this.
“I wasn’t working last night and I was sat in the house and was not sure whether to go out or not and take pictures, when I saw a message on a Facebook group I am a member of with other local photographers.
“One of the guys posted that said it was really strong over Souter, so I jumped in the car and headed over.
“I was lucky I went when I did because the light had vanished within 10 minutes of me getting out the car at Souter.
“Normally, you would have to travel around anhour-and-a-half into Northumberland or Durham to get something like that.”
The Northern Lights is the common name for a vivid light show that is caused by collisions between electric ally charged particles released from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere and collide with gases such as oxygen and nitrogen. The lights are seen around the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.
Auroras that occur in the northern hemisphere are called Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights and auroras that occur in the southern hempishere are called Aurora Australis or Southern Lights.
Auroral displays can appear in many colours, although green is the most common. Colours such as red, yellow, green, blue and violet are also seen occasionally.
The auroras can appear in many forms, from small patches of light that appear out of nowhere to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an incredible glow.
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‘It was a really strong one’
DEAN MATTHEWS