Aurora Borealis visible with the naked eye in Snowdonia overlooking Barmouth Estuary

Northern Lights

Parent & Teacher Guidance
Northern Lights

What causes the Northern Lights? 

 

To understand what causes the Northern Lights, we need to understand what is happening in the sun, and also understand the Earth's magnetic field. The sun is a ball of hydrogen and other gases. It is about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometres, from Earth.  

 

In the sun, hydrogen atoms hit each other and create nuclear fusion. Sometimes, charged particles shoot out of the sun and create a solar flash. As a result, the particles travel through space for two days, about 93 million miles, until reaching Earth. 

 

A magnetic field protects the Earth, but this is less strong at the north and south poles. Thus, some of the electrons coming from the sun manage to reach the Earth's atmosphere. In doing this, they collide with the oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the Earth's atmosphere. These atoms are agitated, and release energy in the form of light. 

 

The Lightning looks like sheets or waves, because they follow the lines of force in the Earth's magnetic field. Different gases give the different colours. 

  • Oxygen – gives green light, the most common colour; 
  • Nitrogen – gives a blue, red or purple light. 
     

The best places to see the Northern Lights are: 

 

  • Alaska or northern Canada; 
  • Scandinavia; 
  • The north of Scotland, sometimes down to the north of England. They are seen in north and mid Wales if conditions are right. 
  • The Northern Lights can be seen all the way down to the equator, but that is quite unusual. 
  • You have to go a long way from major cities or towns, or light pollution will be a problem. Therefore, remote places are best. 

 

The Northern Lights are at their best during the winter and also during the months of September, October, March and April. A clear, cloudless night is needed to see the lights. If the moon is full, it is more difficult to see the aurora. 

Similar lights – known as Aurora Australis – can be seen in the Antarctic.

Glossary
Remote
A place far from a populated area.
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the southernmost continent and site of the South Pole and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean.
Northern Lights
The Northen Lights or Aurora Borealis is a natural light display in the Earth's sky.
Magnetic field
The area around a magnet in which there is magnetic force.
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Illuminated jellyfish group swimming underwater 

Off the Welsh coast in recent years, clouds of plankton have been seen to create a bright blue light. 

The scientific name for these incredible natural phenomena is biomluminescence. 

The bright blue light is created by millions of plankton. Look at a video by Kris Williams of Beaumaris showing this in Penmon, Anglesey. The pictures are from Aberavon beach. 

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/stunning-pictures-capture-glowing-plankton-14933885 

 

What is  biomluminescence? 

It helps if we look at parts or the word: 

bio = life 

lumen = a Latin word for ‘light’ 

esence = another word from Latin, meaning  the state or process of being 

The plankton don't light up all the time. During the day, they look brownish, a bit like a rust, but at night, when the water is moved in some way, they light up. 

The plankton produce light in order to defend themselves; they try to attract predators to whatever is trying to eat them. To produce the light the plankton use a chemical called luciferin. 

 

When does bioluminescence occur? 

It usually occurs in the tropics, where the water is always warm. But, with climate change, as water temperatures rise, this natural phenomenon is also found on the seaside in Wales. 

During a very hot period, as happened in the summer of 2018, warm seawater is an ideal place for plankton to grow. The long sunny days provide the energy needed to light up at night. 

Therefore, it is highly likely that we will see more and more of the bright blue light of plankton in Wales in future!

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Dan-yr-Ogof, The National Showcaves Centre for Wales

Where are Dan yr Ogof Caves? 

Dan yr Ogof is near Abercrave, in the upper Swansea Valley. Dan yr Ogof was originally a farm name. The River Llynfell comes out of the rock near the farm. The caves are in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Tommy and Jeff Morgan, two local brothers, discovered the caves in 1912. 

  

What did Tommy and Jeff Morgan finish? 

They saw stalagmites and stalactites. They had no torch, just candles. After walking for a while, they saw that there was an underground lake. They couldn't cross the lake, so they came out of the tunnel again. 

  

How did they find their way out? 

They had made signs in the sand on the way in. 

 

What did the Morgan brothers do afterwards? 

The next time, the Morgan brothers brought two coracles with them to cross the lake, but they crossed not just one lake, but four! They saw many tunnels, caverns and a large chamber. 

  

What happened then? 

In 1963 a local girl, Eileen Davies, went through the narrow path and saw that there were many more caves. There are over 10 miles of caves in total. 

  

Is it possible to visit the caves? 

Yes, you can follow a path around the caves. Here are some of the most special things to see: 

  • Frozen waterfall – the rock looks like a waterfall. It is 7m wide and 3m high. 
  • Alabaster pillar – a stalagmite and stalactite have grown together to create a pillar over 2m high. 
  • Rasher of bacon – the stalactite looks like a rasher of bacon, because pieces of iron in the rock make it look red. 
  • Dagger – the rock looks like a dagger. 
  • Angel – here, the rock looks like an angel. 
  • Bone Cave – this contains bones, silver and bronze jewelry and pieces of Roman pottery. 
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12th February 2021

I woke this morning full of excitement and curiosity. The big day had almost arrived: the journey down to the River Severn to experience the miracle of the waves beneath my surfboard. I have heard so much about the thrill of the Severn Bore and in just over 24 hours I’ll be experiencing the power of the wave. I checked the timetable online one more time to make sure the time hadn’t changed. No, 8 am it is and I need to get there half an hour earlier to be sure of the experience and realize a lifetime vision and see one of the wonders of the creation. Early bed for me tonight!

13th February 2021

The big day has arrived. With my heart beating like a drum, I got up early to arrive in good time. Perfect weather! A crowd has already gathered on the shore, including me. In no time at all I was on my surfboard on the surface of the water. I looked over my shoulder for the wave to appear. In a flash I saw it in the distance approaching at a staggering speed. I paddled quickly before the force of the wave hit. Suddenly I was in the middle of it. The powerful wave reached me and swept me upstream. Great, fantastic, and inspiring surfing! 

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“Doors to Hell”, Karakum dessert, Turkmenistan

The “Door to Hell” is a gas crater near the village of Darvaza, in the middle of the Karakum Desert, about 260 kilometres (160 mi) north of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.  

 

The gas reserves found in Turkmenistan is one of the largest in the world.  

 

The name "Door to Hell" was given by the local people as it refers to the continuous fire, boiling mud, and orange flames in the large crater, which has a diameter of 70 metres. The hot spots range over an area with a width of 60 metres and to a depth of about 20 metres.  

 

In 2014 explorer George Kourounis became the first person on earth to set foot at the bottom, gathering samples of rock and soil for scientific research. 

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The Scientist

Northen Lights above Welsh skies

November 17th 2019

 

Did you see the magical display of light in the sky last night? The impressive light display was spotted a number of times in Wales during the evening. Officially the light display is called the Aurora Borealis. It is also known to us as the Northern Lights.  

An aurora is a natural light display in the sky and gets its name from the Latin word for "sunrise". In Roman myths Aurora was the goddess of the dawn. It occurs when electrically-charged particles from the Sun enter the Earth's atmosphere.  

The Northern Lights occur so high up in the atmosphere that they don't pose any threat to people watching them from the ground. The aurora is not harmful to us however the electrically charged particles produced could potentially have some negative effects to infrastructure and technology. 

In April 2017, the sky was awash with green and purple colours as the Northern Lights were pictured above Usk Reservoir, and months later the same happened in the skies above Merthyr Tydfil. Also the lights were also spotted from Maerdy Mountain in the Rhondda in March 2016 and over the Cambrian Mountains on New Years Day of the same year.

United Kingdom and Scandinavia on a moonlit night under an amazing aurora

Amateur photographers have also captured the moment the Aurora Borealis lit up the night sky across geographical areas of Wales in March 2015, and they were later spotted in the Pembrokeshire skies later in October of that year. 

Clear, dark skies which are free from light pollution and cloud cover are required in order to view the natural phenomenon. The best places in Wales to view the spectacular light display is Brecon Beacons, Anglesey, Snowdonia National Park and Stackpole, Pembrokeshire.  

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Severn Bore

The Severn Bore is a large wave that travels up the river Severn when the tide is high. Sometimes, the wave isn't very big, but sometimes, a four-star or even a five-star Bore occurs – these are the biggest. 

When the Bore is high, lots of people come out to watch and surfers like to surf it. 

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Northen Lights

The Inuit thought that the Northern Lights were the spirit of their ancestors, or babies who had died, dancing. 

The Scandinavians believed that the light was a bridge of fire to heaven created by the gods. 

A Finnish story says that the Northern Lights are created by the tail of the Arctic fox brushing snow off the mountains. 

The Scots thought that the Lights were dancers, or warriors fighting, or angels falling to Earth.

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Alabaster pillar

Piece of bacon

Frozen waterfall

Bone cave

Cathedral cave