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With the sky lit up pink, red, green and blue overnight, it got us wondering why that happens, and your pictures have helped us explain it!
Reading various sources - including Space.com, the National Weather Service Northern Indiana, Royal Museums, and more - we've now got a base level of understanding about what the Northern Lights are, and why we've been seeing them in our skies recently.
Space.com describes the Aurora Borealis as "the Holy Grail of skywatching" - meaning people across the Channel Islands struck lucky again last night.
The site explains that the 'northern lights' are created when energized particles from the sun meet the upper atmosphere at high speeds - up to 45million mph or 72 million kph. As the particles are redirect towards the earth's poles the activity creates the light show that we can see.
The National Weather Service for Northern Indiana explained why we see the differing colours in easy to understand language too:
If you're seeing the Northern Lights tonight, here's an explainer of how the different colors can appear! We are currently seeing a vivid display of pinks and greens here at the office! pic.twitter.com/S0NLzG5HOa
— NWS Northern Indiana (@NWSIWX) October 11, 2024
The different colours were visible in many of the images shared by Express readers overnight including this one taken by A-level student Oliver Le Sauvage (17) showing 'excited atomic oxygen at lower altitudes' (the green lights) and 'excited atomic oxygen at high altitudes' (the pink lights) above Guernsey's west coast.
The green hues were visible across the island including at Le Catioroc, as captured by Bridget Martin:
This image was captured by Victoria Robert at Pembroke:
Vicky Carre captured this mainly pink display near Vale Primary school:
Families were out in force last night taking photos across the island, with some pets joining in too, as captured by Megan Burns:
The free light show was visible across the islands, including from Becky and Shaun McDonald's home in Herm:
For more images check out the reader submissions on our Facebook:
Pictured top: (main image) The view from Albecq over Lion Rock captured by Emma Jane Renouf.
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