Night sky watchers across the UK were treated to a rare visual spectacle during the month of February, when clear skies and perfect conditions conspired to give residents in places as far south as Cornwall a glimpse of the aurora borealis. Also known as the northern lights, this otherworldly phenomenon occurs when electrically charged particles from space enter the Earth's upper atmosphere at high speed. Funnelled downwards towards the Earth's magnetic North and South poles, the particles then hit oxygen and nitrogen atoms high up in the atmosphere.
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