Solar Storm Cuts Into Earth’s Magnetic Field, Makes Rare Pink Auroras for 120 Seconds in Norway

The Earth's magnetic field has recently been dented by a solar storm. This cosmic event caused rare pink auroras to be visible across the skies of Norway for about two minutes.

A rare display of strikingly vibrant pink auroras filled Norway's night sky due to a confluence of cosmic occurrences. On November 3, a hole in the magnetic field of Earth allowed highly energetic solar particles known as solar wind to enter the atmosphere, resulting in the two-minute-long unusual-colored light display, according to Spaceweather.com.

Super Rare Pink Auroras

Markus Varik, a tour leader for a Greenlander travel agency, reported to USA TODAY that he saw the auroras at about 6 PM while leading a group of tourists near Troms, Norway. The intensity of the pink color was "super rare" and "almost never happens," even though the auroras weren't the best he'd ever seen.

The strongest pink and purple hues he has ever seen, according to Varik, who has led over 1,000 tours of Norway's auroras as a guide for more than ten years.

@fcain @WSHpod Just listened to the last episode of weekly space hangout where you guys covered pink aurora. I was just in Sommarøy Norway and was lucky enough to see them myself. They were bright enough to overexpose my camera! pic.twitter.com/Bq7D2BRpeP
— Sam Iacavazzi (@Siacabooty) November 13, 2022

According to Varik, auroras are typically green because oxygen atoms are struck by energetic particles, but under "rare" circumstances, purple hues can appear when electrons travel deep into the atmosphere and strike nitrogen molecules, USA Today reports.

Northern Lights

Varik added that the Northern Lights are never the same and are always different. People are completely different from one another in their unique ways. He always feels very spiritually moved when the auroras grant him the blessing to be able to witness this kind of phenomenon.

The formation of auroras, which are typically between 62 and 186 miles above the surface of the planet, occurs when streams of solar wind pass through the magnetic field of the planet and superheat gases, causing them to glow in the night sky.

According to NASA, auroras are more frequent near the South and North Poles, which have less effective cosmic radiation shields.

Colors of the Aurora

According to Aurora Live, when charged particles or electrons from the solar wind collide with the various components of our upper atmosphere, they produce the colors of the aurora. The energy from these collisions is transferred to the entities, causing them to become excited. To return to a more stable energy state, they radiate this energy back out as a light photon.

Colors are determined by three factors, namely, the entity present, altitude, and solar particles.

Each atom or molecule in the upper atmosphere that is struck by solar particles emits a glow with a very distinct color or wavelength, which is referred to as an entity present. These particular hues can be seen in a spectrometer's emission band spectrum. The wavelengths are translated into different colors by vision.

What kinds of things are in the air mixture depends on altitude. It is crucial in enabling the atmosphere's creatures to glow.

A current is produced when electrons are directed around magnetic field lines. The deeper they delve into the atmosphere and thus the more vibrant the resulting aurora, the more energy and speed they possess. Less energetic currents typically stay at high altitudes, where they can't penetrate very deeply but carry a lot more particles that enable some entities to glow.