EXPLOSION OF #PINK #AURORAS: If you spend 10 years inside the Arctic Circle, you're going to see a lot of auroras. "I have been guiding aurora tours full time for the past 10 years," says Markus Varik of TromsΓΈ, Norway. "And I thought I I had seen it all." Think again:
"We headed out early last night (Nov. 2nd) to chase the lights--and what a surprise!" he says. "These were the most intense pink auroras I have ever seen. The pink color was bright and obvious to the naked eye. My entire group was stunned."
Pink auroras are a sign of nitrogen. Most auroras are green--the color of #oxygen atoms being struck by energetic particles 100 km to 300 km above #Earth's surface. Pink appears when energetic particles from space descend lower than usual, striking nitrogen molecules at the 100 km level and below.
What happened? Just before Varik went out aurora hunting, a crack formed in Earth's magnetic field. Energetic particles rushed through the gap, penetrating deeply enough for pink.
https://spaceweather.com/
