Possibility for nacreous cloud sightings

Although not related to the aurora, polar stratospheric clouds (also known as nacreous clouds) are a beautiful winter sky phenomenon. They only form when conditions in the stratosphere, a layer of our atmosphere at around 15-25km in altitude, are just right. One very important condition is that the temperature in the stratosphere must be below…

Light pollution: an aurora hunter’s foe

There are several things that can really frustrate the avid aurora hunter: dead camera batteries, cloud cover, and that pesky thing called light pollution. Light pollution is the name for the brightening of the night sky due to the presence of man-made sources, e.g. street lamps, high-rise blocks, or gas flaring from nearby petrochemical plants.…

What is airglow?

Beautiful green ‘airglow’ spotted by aurora hunters – but what is it? Nathan Case, Lancaster University Over the past few nights, amateur astronomers and aurora hunters alike have been reporting a green glow across the UK sky. Easily confused with the aurora borealis, or northern lights, the sightings were of another phenomena called “airglow”. Airglow…