What a night it was! The sky over Poland was lit up by two extraordinary phenomena

on the night from Monday to Tuesday, an incredible spectacle could be observed in the sky. Poles, who were prepared to watch the remnants of a comet fly by, were additionally surprised by the appearance of a bright aurora borealis. To see the unusual phenomena, one had to be far from the city center and the lights.

The peak of the Perseid meteor shower delighted observers

Let us recall that the Perseid shower consists of small meteors left behind by the Swift-Tuttle comet, which flies close to our orbit. In mid-August, the Earth approaches its flight path so closely that particles of the comet fall into our atmosphere and create a magical spectacle in the night sky.

The night of August 12-13 saw the peak of the Perseids, during which, under the right conditions, we could observe about 100 individual phenomena per hour. The “shooting stars” will continue to appear until August 24.

Meteors are about the size of grains of sand. As they enter our atmosphere at a dizzying speed of about 60 kilometers per second, they cause light to shine.

In addition to the Perseids, the Northern Lights also appeared in the sky

Interestingly, people observing the Perseids reported that along with the “falling stars” in the sky they could also see the aurora borealis. As described by , it was best visible in northern Poland, as well as in the center – in the Łódź and Wielkopolska provinces.

It is created by the impact of energized gas particles that the Sun sends into the upper layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. The magnetic field that protects our planet pushes the particles toward the North and South Poles. There, they interact with gases present in the atmosphere, which is why an extraordinary phenomenon occurs.

The color of the aurora is supposed to depend on the gases present. Nitrogen is supposed to take on purple and burgundy colors, and oxygen red and green. The lightest gases, hydrogen and helium, give blue and violet shades.