Last week, Shiplake and the rest of the UK were treated to a rare appearance of the Northern Lights, and, in today’s (Monday 20 May) Whole School Assembly, the lights returned to make another appearance!
The Northern Lights (or Aurora Borealis) were seen after one of the strongest geomagnetic storms in years hit Earth. Those who were in the know and stayed up late over the weekend of Saturday 11 May would have seen how the sky turned pink and green in a dazzling display of light.
When a solar storm comes toward Earth, some of the energy and small particles can travel down the magnetic field lines at the north and south poles into Earth's atmosphere. There, the particles interact with gases in our atmosphere resulting in the beautiful displays of light in the sky. The colour depends on what gas these particles interact with.
This display is considered to be a rare experience in the UK and not everyone will have the chance to witness them light up our sky. However, for those who thought they had missed out, it proved not to be the case as Mr Jasper, our Head of Physics, brought the lights back from his science classroom. With Whole School Assemblies currently online owing to public examinations, Shiplake College had its first ever livestreamed science experiment with Mr Jasper first giving a short explanation on how the Northern Lights come to be, before demonstrating them for all to see.
The Northern Lights experience did not end there. Ahead of today’s Assembly, a Whole School Competition was held after Head of Photography Mrs Lovelock sent out a call for everyone to submit their photos capturing the Northern Lights. With so many photos submitted, it was wonderful to see the array of photos and colours captured.
Congratulations to Year 7 pupil Lyra Jones and Maintenance's Mr Zegzdryn whose photos were voted Best Photographs by our A-level photography pupils!
Please enjoy the many photos that were submitted in the gallery below. You can also rewatch Mr Japer's experiment and learn about this fascinating phenomenon in more detail.
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