The aurora borealis, or "Northern Lights", can be viewed quite regularly throughout the autumn, winter and spring in Uig & Bernera, where light pollution is at a minimum, and where the winds from the Atlantic keep the skies relatively clear.

The aurora is basically an incredible phenomenon of streamers and bands of coloured lights, which appear in the sky near the poles. The streamers and bands of light can move instantaneously creating new designs, which light up sections of the sky.

The origins of the aurora borealis stem from the sun. The sun emits streams of plasma (clouds of high energy charged particles), which are known as the solar winds. When these winds hit the edge of the earth's magnetic field, some of the particles are trapped and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the ionosphere. (A section of the atmosphere, which extends 60-600 km above the earth's surface). The particles in these winds collide with the gases of the atmosphere and start to emit light.

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The colours consist of green, blue, violet and red. The lights appear to be moving due to the changing interaction of the solar winds and the earth's magnetic field.

If you would like to try and capture the aurora on film, then you will need a camera that can make long exposures (>10 secs) and a tripod. Most video cameras are not sensitive enough to record the aurora.

Whether or not you see the aurora, in clear weather our night skies are stunning displays of more stars, galaxies and milky ways than you could ever imagine if you're used to a town or city sky. The experience will be rewarding even if you aren't lucky enough to see the aurora borealis itself.