The aurora borealis, also known as the Northern and Southern Lights, was visible in India’s Ladakh on 11 May, according to the Indian Astronomical Observatory, which captured the spectacular images on camera for the first time.
According to the IAO, the aurora borealis is rare in India. Still, astronomers at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve saw a red glow on the northwest horizon in the sky from about 1 am on Saturday, which continued till dawn.
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“We were fortunate to witness Aurora activities on our all-sky camera during regular telescope observations,” Stanzin Norla, an engineer at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, told PTI.
Norla even shared images of the spectacular view on X and added that the skies turned red along the horizon and later turned to a pinkish hue.
However, according to NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, extreme geomagnetic storm continues and will persist through at least Sunday. So in case you missed to see the sky lights dancing in a spectacular form, there may still be a chance till this weekend.
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Taking to X, NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center wrote, “The extreme geomagnetic storm continues and will persist through at least Sunday…”, adding that they were visible across much of the United States and if weather permits, they may be visible again tonight.
Northern lights photographer Vincent Ledvina from Alaska also shared an image, depicting aurora in India.
Earlier on Saturday, assistant professor at Indian Institute of Astrophysics Wageesh Mishra mentioned that four super-strong CMEs from the Sun reached the Earth on 10-11 May, which led to solar storms led to one of the strongest geomagnetic storms.
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He added that such intense storms happened almost two decades before, in November 2003.
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center had on April 21 said the occurrence of a severe (G4) Geomagnetic storm, classified as G4 on NOAA’s scale, took place in Ladakh despite it being located at mid-latitudes.
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This aurora was earlier visible in Ladakh during the night of April 22-23, 2023, which experts cite as a result of a coronal mass ejection on April 21. This ejection triggered a G-4 class geomagnetic storm on Earth.
With inputs from PTI.
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Published: 11 May 2024, 08:50 PM IST