Northern Lights: a colorful gift from the sun

From Sunday to Monday, many people stared at the night sky in surprise yet enchantment. Because it shimmered – at least for a short time – in the most beautiful shades of pink and red.

But Northern Lights? In Burgenland? “Yes, it was actually an aurora borealis,” explains amateur astronomer Nick Hauptmann from Weiden am See.

But how? Does climate change have anything to do with it? Captain laughs and waves him goodbye. “No. For once it wasn’t homemade,” he laughs. “The sun is responsible for this – or rather the solar winds.” Because these storms “paint” the pink, red, green, or violet light in the night sky, the colorful sparkles are beautiful and are created because the magnetic field surrounding the Earth traps the electrically charged electrons and protons that the solar storm brings to Earth from space to the poles.

The sun “quivered”.
The solar wind then causes the air to glow. Besides, oxygen emits green and red light, nitrogen emits blue and violet light. “You could say that the sun shone brightly and that is why we could admire the Northern Lights,” explains Hauptmann. Often this does not happen.

The last time was in the early 2000s, recalls amateur astronomer Michael Schmidt from Jennersdorf. But chance also played a role on Sunday and this was due to increased solar activity and energy discharge when the sun was in the direction of Earth’s field of view.