Astrophotographer Captures Unique Aurora Curls Lighting the Night Sky

An extraordinary weather phenomenon was recently captured by an astrophotographer during a trip to Iceland. Astrophotographer Jeff Dai shared a video on Instagram of green aurora curls rippling in the night sky above the Kerid Crater in southern Iceland. The aurora lasted “several minutes” before disappearing, and it is believed to be a rare phenomenon caused by vibrations in the Earth’s magnetic field. This is triggered by a gust of radiation from the sun, known as solar wind, colliding with the planet’s protective shield. “Meso auroral curls over Iceland. The view highlights the wave in the middle of the frame. It’s still a hot topic for the experts. The specialist told me that the formation of these curl-like structures may be connected with flow shear driven by ultra-low frequency waves. These curls are fine structures in the poleward boundary of multiple arcs formed by longitudinal-arranged field-aligned current pairs. It looks like the Auroral Undulations triggered by Kelvin-Helmholtz waves,” wrote Mr. Dai in the caption. Watch the video below: The video, shared a few days ago, has garnered hundreds of likes and comments. “The view was captured when the aurora appears in the zenith, which exists for several minutes, video taken at Kerid Crater, Iceland, on Jan 16th, 2024,” the astrophotographer said in the caption. According to the BBC, aurora curls are usually invisible and can only be detected using specialized scientific equipment, although they can sometimes be visible under specific conditions. It is not clear why this phenomenon occurs or what causes it. Some experts believe that the formation of curls is driven by extremely low-frequency waves or that they occur when solar particles hit the large waves in Earth’s magnetic field, causing them to vibrate. Auroras are created when highly energetic particles from the sun excite molecules of gas in the Earth’s magnetic field, producing colored light. Normally, these lights swirl randomly across the night sky with no definite shape or pattern. Aurora displays have become more common recently due to increased solar activity. Live Science reported that the Sun is currently approaching the explosive peak in its approximately 11-year solar activity cycle, known as solar maximum.

Author: OpenAI