The northern lights occur in different regions of our planet and by themselves they are a true spectacle in the darkness of the night sky, something that many dream of seeing up close.
Known for their colored lights, the auroras are even the goal of an unforgettable trip, but have you ever imagined pink auroras? That was what happened after a crack was recorded in the Earth’s magnetic field.
The Norwegian sky became more colorful and this time in shades of pink after the formation of pink auroras due to a crack in the Earth’s magnetic field.
On the night of last Thursday, November 3, the sky of Norway was covered by a real spectacle of aurora borealis pinka phenomenon considered extremely rare, but which It happened after a solar storm opened a crack in the Earth’s magnetic field..
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Know how spectacular the Auroras are. In this article we explain the details:https://t.co/v5J30dmMz3— Meteored.mx (@meteoredmx) December 20, 2019
Crack in Earth’s magnetic field
By opening a slit, highly energetic solar particles were able to penetrate deeper into the atmosphere than they normally do, causing the more unusual colored lights in auroras, which normally show bluish and greenish hues.
According to the team of SpaceWeathersome scientists noticed the crack in the Earth’s magnetic field after the occurrence of a solar storm classified as G-1 that hit the planet.
Such a rare phenomenon was recorded by a group that had Markus Varik as a northern lights tour guide for a tour agency in Norway called Greenlanderwhere the guide himself reported that the pink auroras appeared around 6 p.m. and lasted for about two minutes.
These were the strongest pink sunrises I’ve seen in over a decade of dedicated touring, and it was a sobering experience, said Markus Varik.
It is noteworthy that during this solar storm most recent that gave rise to a crack in the Earth’s magnetospherethe solar wind penetrated below 100 km, where nitrogen is the most abundant gas, causing the unusual coloration.
How are auroras formed?
When streams of energetic particles, known as solar windspass around the magnetosphere, the auroras are formed, which can be boreal when it comes to regions near the North Pole and austral when it comes to regions near the South Pole.
The magnetic field of the planet is in charge of shielding against the cosmic radiation that protects all human beings from the strongest rays of the Sun, allowing life on Earth. However, this protective shield is naturally weakest at the north and south poles, causing the solar wind to slip through the atmosphere in a area usually between 100 and 300 kilometers from Earth’s surface where auroras form.
This happens because as the solar particles pass through the atmosphere, they end up superheating the gases, which glow brightly in the night sky in response.
️ Solar storm ripped a hole in Earth’s magnetic field
As a result of this event, strange pink auroras have appeared in the sky over Norway.https://t.co/1QBv6AFx7y
— The Republic (@larepublica_pe) November 8, 2022
In short, auroras have a greenish color as mentioned above, this happens because oxygen atoms are more abundant in that part of the atmosphere that the solar wind normally reaches, causing green lights to appear when the atoms are excited.
The tour guide Varik also stated that in addition to the pink auroras that lasted for a short time, but already attracted the attention of tourists, strong green auroras were also produced throughout the night, a true spectacle for those who were looking for it.