Lun, May 6th 2024
In a rare celestial display, the Northern Lights were seen from Säntis, Switzerland, lighting up the night with vibrant colours through the cloud gaps.
Northern lights were spotted from Säntis on Monday night. A camera captured the colourful natural spectacle between the gaps in the clouds at 01:50, according to the Federal Weather Service.
The last time auroras were sighted in Switzerland was on November 5, 2023, the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss announced early Monday morning on the online platform X, formerly Twitter.
According to a press release from MeteoSwiss, auroras are rare in the Alpine region. They are normally seen in the polar region.
The color spectacle is therefore caused by an interaction between charged particles from space and the Earth’s atmosphere. It is triggered by the so-called solar wind. This consists of charged particles, mainly electrons and protons, which are emitted by the sun. Green northern lights are often caused by interaction with oxygen in higher atmospheric layers, while red or violet colors can result from interaction with nitrogen.
©Keystone/SDA
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