On Thursday (Nov. 3) a mysterious blue ribbon of sunshine appeared within the skies over Abisko, a small village within the coronary heart of Swedish Lapland.
“Our workforce of photographers has been photographing the night sky for greater than a decade and this occasion was in contrast to something we now have ever seen,” mentioned Chad Blakley, the director of the aurora tour firm Lights over Lapland (opens in new tab).
At first, skywatchers believed it was an aurora, albeit a really unusual one. However because the minutes handed they watched the blue gentle stay stationary — a stark distinction to the inexperienced aurora dancing round it. It was then they realized the blue glow was one thing relatively distinctive.
Associated: Where to see the northern lights: 2022 aurora borealis guide
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The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are brought on when energized particles from the sun slam into Earth‘s higher environment — the ionosphere — and are redirected in the direction of the poles by Earth’s magnetic field. The colours are dictated by the chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere, with inexperienced produced by oxygen molecules and crimson by nitrogen.
Realizing this was no atypical aurora, Blakley reached out to consultants within the area to attempt to confirm what may very well be inflicting the unusual gentle present.
“My first port of name was Dr. Tony Phillips of spaceweather.com,” mentioned Blakley. “Dr Phillips is an previous good friend of mine, and he was as puzzled by the blue glow as I used to be.”
In response to Blakely, Phillips continued to succeed in out to different consultants within the area and finally got here to the conclusion that the odd blue aurora was presumably brought on by a Russian submarine testing ICBMs (Intercontinental ballistic missiles).
A number of information experiences from the Eurasian Times (opens in new tab) and Reuters (opens in new tab) reported that on the identical day because the blue “aurora”, Russia had efficiently test-fired a Bulava ballistic missile from the Russian nuclear-powered submarine Generalissimus Suvorov within the White Sea.
This is not the primary time a missile check has presumably brought on such an odd “aurora” gentle present. According to spaceweather.com (opens in new tab) on Oct. 27, 2017, related blue ribbons had been noticed within the skies above the Arctic Circle, after Russia launched plenty of missiles throughout a battle drill.
If you happen to hope to see the northern lights your self, try our information on where and how to photograph the aurora. And in the event you’re hoping to seize them on digicam, contemplate our picks for the best equipment for aurora photography and how to edit aurora photos. If you happen to want gear, our roundups for the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography may help be sure you’re prepared for the subsequent aurora occasion.
Unable to attend an aurora gentle present in particular person? Mild over Lapland additionally hosts the longest-running aurora webcam on Earth. It has been capturing nonetheless pictures of the evening sky each 5 seconds for greater than a decade. You may view pictures from this webcam and in addition a real-time high-definition aurora webcam on their website (opens in new tab).
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