Very rare pink northern lights "blessing" seen in Norway

Video - Stunning aurora australis timelapse captured in Tasmania horizon"/>

Want to know what the night sky looks like after a solar storm hits Earth and punctures the planet’s magnetic field?

A combination of cosmic events has caused a rare burst of a striking pink aurora in the night sky above Norway. The unusual colorful light display lasts about two minutes and is caused by cracks in Earth’s magnetic field that allowed high-energy solar energy particles, known as solar wind, to enter the atmosphere on Nov. 3, according to the British Guardian. newspaper. Spaceweather.com.

Greenlandic Tourism Company Guide Markus Varek spotted the aurora around 6 p.m. while leading a tour group near Troms, Norway, Varrick told USA TODAY. Varrick said that while the pink aurora wasn’t the prettiest he’d ever seen, the intensity of the color was “very rare” and “unheard of.”

Varrick says he’s done more than 1,000 Northern Lights tours as a guide in 10 years, but these were the strongest pinks and purples he’s ever seen in his life.

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Auroras are usually green, with the color of oxygen atoms hitting energetic particles, but purple can occur under “rare” conditions when electrons penetrate deep into the atmosphere and collide with nitrogen molecules, Varek said .

“The Northern Lights are always different, never the same. They are like us humans, totally unique in our own way.” Varek said.

The aurora borealis, usually between 62 and 186 miles above Earth’s surface, forms when solar wind rushes through the planet’s magnetic field and superheated gas, which then glows in the night sky.

The aurora borealis is most common at the north and south poles, areas with a weaker cosmic radiation shield, According to NASA.

Camille Fine is a popular visual producer on the USA TODAY NOW team.

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