The stunning natural phenomenon of Aurora is not just limited to the Scandinavian skies anymore. Ladakh in India witnessed the magical lights as a strong geomagnetic storm struck earth's magnetic fields, thereby creating unreal auroras. Locals and tourists who were in Ladakh at the time of this incident were surprised to see the magic unfold in front of their eyes. This rare phenomenon was captured by the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) above Mount Saraswati.
Auroras are usually witnessed at higher altitudes, like in parts of Norway, Alaska, Finland, and other countries and it is for the first time that an aurora was captured on camera in India. Indian Institute of Astrophysics added that it's extremely rare to see aurora at such a considerably low altitude.
Auroras are usually witnessed at high altitudes
The 360-degree camera atop the IAO in Ladakh Hanle captured this unreal phenomenon, which is basically an interaction between the plasma particles hurled by the Sun and Earth's magnetic field.
The IAO stated, "At 11:42 PM on 21 April 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."
Wageesh Mishra, Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, added that the CME struck the Earth at a speed of 21,60,000 km per hour.
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Aurora sighting in Finland
As per the IAO, the auroras are coming to lower-than-usual latitudes overnight have led to rare sightings from Europe, China, and Ladakh in India. The IAO confirms that such a severe geomagnetic storm last occurred in 2015.
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