A lot of travellers have watching Northern Lights on their bucket list. Finland, Norway, Russia, and Alaska are the most common spots to watch this spectacle. However, with the recent solar flare, the Auroras are lighting up the night skies. Called the 'greatest light show' on Earth, which is usually just seen prominently in the Arctic was even spotted in India at Ladakh! In a first rare spectacle shared by the Indian Astronomical Observatory, Auroras have been spotted on the night of April 22-23, right after the coronal mass ejection or the solar flare that hit the planet. Northern Lights: Aurora Seen in Skies Across UK in Rare Display, Netizens Share Spectacular Photos.
In a video that has now captured all eyes on social media, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics shared a 360-degree video of the Auroras spotted in Hanle region of Ladakh. It is extremely rare for these lights to be seen at lower altitudes but the intensity of the geomagnetic storm led to auroral activity in the region. This rare phenomenon was captured by the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) above Mount Saraswati. Northern Lights Seen in United States: Solar Flare Eruption Sparks a Rare Display of Aurora Borealis in Parts of Northern America.
Video of Northern Lights Seen in Ladakh:
This is a time-lapse of the sky taken by a 360 deg camera at from #Hanle on 22/23 April night. You can see the aurora lights due to an intense geomagnetic storm that hit the Earth. It is extremely rare to see aurora at such a low latitude! @dstindia (1/n) pic.twitter.com/gGbrw86vsb
— IIAstrophysics (@IIABengaluru) April 29, 2023
At 11:42 PM on 21 Apr the Sun launched a coronal mass ejection towards the Earth. This CME (speed of 500-600 km/s) was associated with an M1 class solar flare. The CME arrived at Earth late on April 23 at 10 PM, says @wageeshmishra . (2/n)https://t.co/Vwsxpy8rBS @dstindia
— IIAstrophysics (@IIABengaluru) April 29, 2023
This geoeffective CME led to an excellent night for auroral activity. The aurora came to lower-than-usual latitudes overnight leading to rare sightings of from Europe, China & Ladakh in India. Such a severe geomagnetic storm last occurred in 2015 says @wageeshmishra (3/n)
— IIAstrophysics (@IIABengaluru) April 29, 2023
This is the first time an Aurora has been captured on camera in India. As the tweet mentions, similar sightings have also been seen in Europe and China. The Northern Lights or Auroras occur when there is an interaction between the plasma particles hurled by the Sun and Earth's magnetic field. The different colours of the aurora are produced by different gases. The green auroras are caused by oxygen molecules, while red auroras are caused by high-altitude oxygen atoms.
On April 23 at 10 PM, the Coronal Mass Ejection arrived at Earth causing the area to flare up with this spectacle. The last time such severe solar storms occurred was in 2015. It will be interesting to note whether we will see more of this spectacle from Ladakh in the coming days.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 03, 2023 02:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).