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Saturday evening presents rare chance to see northern lights

The northern lights may be visible over Poland on Saturday night, following a solar storm. People living in the northern parts of Poland will have the highest chances to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon.

On October 28, astronomers from NASA and other space agencies reported that several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occurred on the Sun. Plasma ejected in up to four such mass ejections will reach Earth. This means that the aurora borealis is likely to appear not only in polar regions, but also in lower latitudes, including Poland.

When the particles reach the Earth, they move along the magnetic field lines of our planet. Some of the particles hit the poles, causing the aurora borealis to glow. Others move along the outstretched “tail” of the magnetic field, extending away from the Sun, i.e. in the Earth’s shadow.

When observed from the International Space Station or another vehicle in orbit, the aurora borealis appears as a glowing green oval around one of Earth’s poles. However, there is a build-up of energy in the magnetic field, which from time to time is violently released into the atmosphere in the form of an electric current. Such an explosion causes the colours of the aurora to change to purple, red and white.

Astrophotography enthusiast Piotr Majewski, the author of the Radio-teleskop.pl channel on YouTube, explained in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the northern lights can be seen in Poland at most once every few years.

To maximise the chances of seeing it, he recommends people to travel to the northern parts of Poland and observe the sky from a place that is far away from big cities and other sources that cause so-called “light pollution” of the sky.

The best chance to see the northern lights will occur around 7 pm local time on Saturday. After midnight, the likelihood will decrease significantly.

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