Rare solar event triggers spectacular auroras across the globe

If you are fascinated by the beauty of the night sky, you might have witnessed a rare solar event that lit up the sky with stunning auroras across Earth. A solar storm caused by a burst of plasma from the sun, hit our planet on November 3, 2022, and created a hole in Earth’s magnetic field. This allowed highly energetic solar particles to enter deeper into our atmosphere than usual, producing spectacular displays of polar lights in different colors.

One of the most remarkable sights was the appearance of pink auroras, which are extremely rare and require much solar activity. These were spotted by aurora hunters in Norway, who captured breathtaking images of the horizon glowing with neon-like hues of green, orange, red, and purple. According to Markus Varik, a northern lights tour guide from Greenlander, these were the strongest pink auroras he had seen in over a decade.

Space weather forecasters predict that more solar storms are on their way, as the sun enters the peak of its 11-year cycle of activity. This means that we might have more chances to witness these amazing natural phenomena in the near future.

G3-G4 conditions continue overnight pic.twitter.com/sQH7AZ5fhb

— NOAA Space Weather (@NWSSWPC) April 24, 2023

Auroras are usually green or purple, depending on the type of gas molecules interacting with the solar particles. When oxygen molecules are excited by the solar wind, they emit green light. When nitrogen molecules are excited, they emit purple or blue light. But when both oxygen and nitrogen molecules are excited at very high altitudes, they can emit pink or red light, creating a rare and stunning spectacle.

The solar storm that triggered these auroras was classified as a G-1 class storm, the lowest level on the geomagnetic storm scale. However, it lasted more than six hours, giving enough time for the solar wind to penetrate through the crack in Earth’s magnetic field.

"My pulse is still racing!" says Heiko Ulbricht, who watched the aurora show from Saxony, Germany. "There were bright green spots dancing across the sky all the way up to the zenith." This is what he saw: pic.twitter.com/uzuoblzPZZ

— JimeV Augmented Mouse (@Jelwoodv) April 24, 2023

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