The Northern Lights paint the Italian skies pink: the photos and reasons for a very rare phenomenon

The Northern Lights color the Italian sky pink . The splendid images of a very rare phenomenon have made the rounds on the web, given that the auroras are visible almost exclusively in the polar regions, where the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the swarm of particles coming from the Sun is most intense.

Yesterday the extraordinary pink shades were observed and photographed by amateur astronomers and astronomers from all over the country.

Why did it happen? The physicist Mauro Masserotti , professor of Space Meteorology in Trieste, explains the phenomenon as follows: «Over the space of two days the Earth's magnetic field underwent strong stress , due to the interaction with a swarm of particles coming from the Sun (mass ejection coronal, Cme) occurred on Saturday 4 November, which was followed on 5 November by a new Cme more intense than the first. This resulted in a strong G3 class geomagnetic storm, on a scale ranging from G1 to G5."

The geomagnetic storm, continues Messerotti, «lasted for many hours and the auroral oval, the region of interaction of solar energetic particles with atoms and molecules of the Earth's atmosphere, expanded to include latitudes as low as 30 degrees North».

The spectacle of the sky was a nice surprise for amateur astronomers, with "reports from a large part of Italy, especially in the North and North East, from Veneto to Ravenna, but also as far as Puglia", says Paolo Volpini, of the Amateur Astronomers Union Italians . Favorite were «areas where the sky was darker, far from city lights, such as the Dolomites and some coastal areas. It was a truly evocative event." Which could also be repeated in these days.

(Unioneonline/L)