BLOG: The light show in the night sky

The Neowise Comet pictured over Grosnez Castle in Jersey
The Neowise Comet pictured at Grosnez Castle in Jersey. Credit: Grzegorz Kaminski

For anyone who has the same fascination with the sky as me, this sort of picture is pretty much as exciting as it gets.

I love looking up and seeing what's flying around. During the day it'll be planes, and I'll whip out my phone to open up the tracking app I have installed which can tell me where the plane is flying from and where it's flying to.

Many nights I'll find myself admiring a pretty sunset. My phone's photo album is filled with random shots of sunsets. We really are spoilt for choice with beautiful twilight skies here in the Channel Islands.

But every so often there are some even more rare sights to see if you look upwards, and now is one of those times.

Noctilucent clouds seen from Jersey's north coast Credit: Grzegorz Kaminski

This time of year, in the northern hemisphere, is perfect for seeing noctilucent clouds which are formed from ice crystals very high up in the atmosphere. Usually other weather blocks our view of them but in the weeks after the shortest day, once the sun has set, the leftover light can illuminate them in spectacular fashion.

Noctilucent clouds visible from St Helier in Jersey Credit: Grzegorz Kaminiski

But this is not the only light show visible in our night sky at the moment as these images show:

Noctilucent clouds and the NEOWISE comet visible from Guernsey Credit: Tom Harvey
Noctilucent cloud and NEOWISE Comet visible from Guernsey Credit: Martin Sarre

Both of these images, taken in Guernsey, show noctilucent cloud on the left and also visible in the sky is what looks like a large shooting star.

It's actually the NEOWISE Comet which was last seen in our solar system some 4000 years ago and it will be visible for the rest of the month by looking to the North, low down close to the horizon.

The piece of rock, around the size of a mountain, has already passed Venus and is now hurtling its way past Earth.

People across the Channel Islands have already managed to capture some stunning pictures of the comet.

The NEOWISE Comet pictured at Sorel Point in Jersey Credit: Grzegorz Kaminiski
NEOWISE Comet seen from Sark Credit: Sue Daly
NEOWISE Comet seen from Guernsey Credit: Jean Dean

The great thing about this comet is it's visible with the naked eye and it's very obvious. You're not going to be hunting around thinking "Is that it?" worried that you've missed it. You also don't need any fancy equipment to see it and it'll be visible probably for the rest of this month or even longer.

I spoke to Tom Harvey, an astronomer from Guernsey, about the light show in our night sky on our programme this week:

For me, there's something truly magical about looking out at the night sky. I find it remarkable during daylight hours to consider that all those stars and galaxies are still there but it's just too bright to see them, and then once the light that normally helps us to see things on Earth during the day disappears, it reveals the huge expanse of space around us that is hidden during the day.

At a time when so many things in our lives have changed and been disrupted, there's something wonderfully reassuring about looking up and seeing that vastness stretching out before us.

So my advice - check the weather forecast for a clear night and head out just after sunset to somewhere away from any streetlights and see what you can see. It's easy when you know something will be visible for a few weeks to put off going to see it and then miss the opportunity. And judging by the pictures we have been sent, this is an opportunity that's really not to be missed.