Watch: Aurora Dazzles Ladakh Skies As Geomagnetic Storm Hits Earth

The skies were set ablaze in colourful lights when the strongest geomagnetic storm struck Earth's magnetic fields. The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) above Mount Saraswati captured this rare phenomenon on camera on April 22-23 night over the Ladakh sky.

A 360-degree camera set up at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) in Ladakh Hanle captured the beautiful light show in the sky which is associated with high latitudes in the Arctic region.

"The aurora lights were seen due to an intense geomagnetic storm that hit the Earth. It is extremely rare to see the aurora at such a low latitude," the Indian Institute of Astrophysics said in a tweet.

Watch the video here:

#Aurora from #Ladakh!
This is a time-lapse of the sky taken by a 360 deg camera at from #Hanle on 22/23 April night. You can see the aurora lights due to an intense geomagnetic storm that hit the Earth. It is extremely rare to see aurora at such a low latitude! @dstindia (1/n) pic.twitter.com/gGbrw86vsb

— IIAstrophysics (@IIABengaluru) April 29, 2023

The rare sight took place at 11:42 PM on 21 April, "At 11:42 PM on 21 Apr the Sun launched a coronal mass ejection towards the Earth. This CME (speed of 500-600 km/s) was associated with an M1 class solar flare. The CME arrived at Earth late on April 23 at 10 PM," IAO said in another tweet.

According to IAO, the aurora came to lower-than-usual latitudes overnight leading to rare sightings of from Europe, China & Ladakh in India. Such a severe geomagnetic storm last occurred in 2015.

Wageesh Mishra, Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics added that this geoeffective CME led to an excellent night for auroral activity.

 The auroras are normally seen at higher altitudes in parts of Alaska, Norway, and other countries.