Northern and southern lights provide fascinating spectacle
Good times for stargazers: Following a powerful solar storm, southern lights are flickering across Australia and New Zealand with an intensity not seen in years. In Europe, too, the aurora borealis is thrilling people.
Amazing play of colors
A spectacular celestial display lit up the skies over southern Australia and parts of New Zealand. Particularly strong auroras colored the sky in shimmering shades of pink, red, and green. Photographers such as this man in New Zealand took advantage of dark locations and long exposure times to capture the magical play of colors.
Australian aurora
The phenomenon was caused by an exceptionally violent solar storm, which, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, reached "G4 geomagnetic storm intensity" (severe storm) and was even visible far north in Queensland. In contrast to the northern lights, Aurora Borealis, which can be seen over Europe, the southern lights, called Aurora Australis, appear over Antarctica and Australia.
Reflected beauty
Twice as beautiful: Southern lights reflect in Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora) on the outskirts of Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island. "A huge spot on the sun, 17 times the diameter of our planet, is hurling material into the atmosphere," Radio New Zealand reported, citing experts.
Luminous lighthouse
The natural spectacle could also be observed in Europe over the past few nights: On the northeast coast of England, the northern lights bathed St. Mary's Lighthouse in colorful hues. In the UK, the highest warning level for a geomagnetic storm, "G5" (extreme storm), was recorded at times — the strongest since records began in 2012.
Aurora in the Alps
The northern lights were visible unusually far south in Europe, lighting up the sky over the Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps. Northern lights occur when particles from a solar storm collide with the Earth's magnetic field and generate electric currents.
Splendid sky
Pink and turquoise auroras shine brightly over Minnesota in the US, but the phenomenon can also have negative effects: According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the solar storm caused signal interruptions in radio communications and satellite navigation in areas of Europe, Africa, and Asia that were facing the sun at the time of the event.
Bright skies over Bavaria
In Germany, where this natural spectacle can usually only be observed in the north, the northern lights were also visible here over Bavaria early on Wednesday. In the coming nights, there will be another chance to observe the northern lights in Germany if the skies are clear, according to the German Aerospace Center (DLR).