91Èȱ¬

The Northern Lights as seen from Berwick in January 2012

You need patience, warm clobber and a little bit of scientific intelligence to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights in our part of Britain.

Recent solar activity has meant the astounding night-time display has been visible with the naked eye and on this week's Inside Out (Monday, 6 February, 2012, 91Èȱ¬1 19:30 GMT) has been hunting down the to give them their proper name.

If you fancy seeing them with your own eyes we've a few top tips to improve your chances.

1) Have a viewing spot pre-planned.

You need a dark sky without any light pollution from towns or industry. You also need to see the horizon to the north because at our latitude, the lights are low down in the sky not above your head.

Go and visit possible places in the daytime to work out the best location for you then sit and wait for it to happen. When it does... you'll be ready! Be safe though, there are good places like cliff tops, but they bring their own problems in the pitch black!

2) Keep an eye on the data.

The is the aurora-chaser's indispensible early alert system. It shows what the conditions are like currently on the Sun, whether recent solar activity has happened and is likely to cause the Northern Lights in the near future.

There are lots of graphs and data on there, but don't worry too much about it. The main thing to look for is the 'Kp index', which is a measure of geomagnetic activity.

A low number like 1 means hardly any, and the aurora might only be visible around the north pole. If it goes up to 5 or 6 and beyond it means the aurora may be visible as far south as Northern England - so it's time to get out there now! The Kp level is always on the left hand side of the Spaceweather home page.

3) Check the local weather forecast.

No clear skies, no aurora. It could be Kp 10 and you wouldn't see a thing if it's cloudy.

4) Be warm.

When you go out you might be out for hours, so to get the benefit of the light show don't be dressed so lightly that you'll have to go home after half an hour.

5) Be patient!

Even when the conditions look right you'll be out on several occasions and not see anything. It's just the way it is. But believe us, when you DO see it, it's worth it...

If you want more information on astronomy in general then don't forget to check out the 91Èȱ¬ Stargazing website