Did you by chance look at sky around 10.30pm last night?
If so, you might (or might not: see below) have seen a colourful display of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis).
Helen Burke was ready to catch the display with her mobile phone and her beautiful photos are shown below.
However, if you did look up at that time and didn't see this display, don't be too hard on yourself.
If you had been standing in a dark place with no light pollution from houses and street lights (a couple of miles away in the Vale of Belvoir maybe) and if you had spent 10 minutes in the darkness to allow your eyes to open wide, then you would have enjoyed these sights.
But if you had stepped outside your back door, with your indoor lights glowing through the curtains, and with your eyes still accommodated to electric lights and TV, then you would have only seen darkness.
However, your phone camera can take long exposures - staying open for around a second, and capture far more light than your eye.
So next time, be prepared.
Load the free 'AuroraWatch UK' app onto your phone and set it to give you alerts. Cross your fingers and take a photo of the sky.
If you are able, move to a darker spot and see if you can see it with your own eyes.
It could be over 20 years before the Sun again generates this level of activity; make the most of this time.
Good luck.
Tony Jarrow
Thanks to Helen Burke for the photos.
One was from an upstairs window overlooking Hoe View Road, another from a gate heading out of the village towards Cropwell Butler, and of course two outside St Giles Church.