Solar storms create spectacular aurora display over northern Germany, treating residents to an unusual celestial show featuring vibrant greens, reds, and purples piercing through nighttime clouds.
Northern lights created a rare spectacle in the night sky over parts of Lower Saxony on Monday night. On-site reporter photographs show a night sky painted in shades of green, red, and purple, shining through the nocturnal cloud cover.
The reporter also noted that shooting stars accompanied the aurora borealis in the sky. The photographer even managed to capture the cause of this rare natural spectacle: solar storms.
Understanding the phenomenon
Despite Bremen, with its approximately 560,000 inhabitants, being considered one of Germany’s cities with the highest light pollution, stars and natural phenomena like northern lights can be well observed in the surrounding areas under suitable conditions.
Northern lights occur when the sun releases a so-called solar wind full of energy-charged particles, electrons, protons, and a small amount of helium. This solar wind takes about 18 hours to reach Earth’s magnetic field. However, these particles don’t make it all the way to the Earth’s surface because they first encounter magnetic field lines. These field lines are directed northward, perpendicular to the flight path of protons and electrons.
When these elements meet, the Lorentz force takes effect, deflecting the electrically charged particles perpendicular to their original path and perpendicular to the magnetic field. The solar wind particles are thus guided around the magnetosphere. The northern lights are created when the energy-charged particles combine with atoms belonging to Earth.
