IoM photographer captures stunning Northern Lights pic

On Saturday evening, keen astrophotographer, Nick Shimmin was on his way to the supermarket with his family when an alert appeared on his phone. 

It was an aurora notification for the north of the Isle of Man. 

Shopping or Northern Lights? The decision was an easy one for the Shimmin family and within minutes they had decided to take a detour to the Point of Ayre. 

Nick didn’t hold out much hope as the sky was overcast in Douglas but as he approached the north, his spirits began to lift. 

"Stars were appearing in the sky and once I got out of the car I could make out a faint green glow with the naked eye", said Nick. 

"So I set up the camera and started to take a few shots of the Winkie and the foghorn".

One of those shots has been wowing island residents this weekend. 

"I love to showcase the beauty of our island," added Nick. 

"I regularly set up alarms so I can head out and capture the night sky at silly hours of the night".

Also called the aurora borealis, the northern lights are an atmospheric phenomenon where undulating waves of green, purple, and red lights dance across the sky. 

They occur when waves of energised particles from the sun called solar wind bombard othe earth's atmosphere.