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Stunning pictures of the Northern Lights have been captured from a North Sea oil rig by a lucky roughneck off the coast of Aberdeen.
The weather phenomenon lit up the northern Scotland sky over the weekend, and the North Sea was apparently one of the best spots to capture it.
Ben Lacey, a roughneck for Diamond Offshore, caught these pictures of the Aurora Borealis from the Ocean Patriot, about 200 miles off Aberdeen on Sunday evening.
The rig is currently on contract for Serica and, according to marine traffic information, is stationed at the Bruce oilfield.
Forecasters say the Northern Lights are visible due to fast solar winds meeting the arrival of a “Coronal Mass Ejection” from the sun.
Aurora is the name given to the light emitted when particles emitted by the sun react with the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, lighting up the night sky.
Ben’s pictures have gained hundreds of reactions on social media, while his colleague Liam Wright also captured shots of the “Mirrie Dancers” from the Diamond Offshore oil rig.
It’s not the first time the Northern Lights have produced a brilliant display in the North Sea…
In 2018, pictures of the phenomenon were captured above BP’s Glen Lyon FPSO in the West of Shetland.