Spectacular Solar Storm Paints Ladakh's Night Sky Crimson

In a rare celestial spectacle, a vibrant crimson hue illuminated the night sky over portions of Ladakh in a stable auroral red arc at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve nestled in the lofty Himalayas. This captivating phenomenon was spurred by potent solar magnetic storms hurtling toward Earth. Visuals of the same were shared on social media by netizens.

As per news agency PTI, scientists at the Centre of Excellence in Space Sciences in India (CESSI), Kolkata, concluded that solar storms, also known as coronal mass ejections, originate from the AR13664 region of the sun. This region has produced several high-energy solar flares, some of which are approaching Earth at a speed of 800 km/s.

In the northern hemisphere's higher latitudes, viewers from Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark, and Poland captured breathtaking auroras or northern lights on camera. They posted brief videos of it to social media.

Astronomers at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve saw a red glow in Ladakh on the northwest horizon in the sky from about 1 am on Saturday that remained till early dawn. "We were fortunate to witness Aurora activities on our all-sky camera during regular telescope observations," Stanzin Norla, an engineer at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, said to PTI.

He claimed that a DSLR camera placed at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve recorded the event in great detail and that a faint red glow could be seen with the unaided eye along the horizon. "It streaked through the sky from about 1 am till 3:30 am," Stanzin said, adding that the skies later turned a red along the horizon and to a pinkish hue.

A rare occurrence over the skies of Ladakh, the event was described as a stable auroral red arc by Dorje Angchuk, an engineer at the Indian Astronomical Observatory in Hanle. "Auroras seen near the north or south poles are dynamic events. They keep changing. But the one witnessed at Ladakh was more stable. It is called the stable auroral red arc. The steady glow remained in the sky for a couple of hours," Angchuk said, PTI reported.

Dibyendu Nandi, Head of CESSI at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, highlighted that such events are rare at Hanle because it is located far south.

According to him, there is a greater likelihood of seeing such things at locations like Hanle during strong disturbances brought on by solar storms. "These auroral red arcs are likely caused by heating of the atmosphere by electric currents that are circulating between Earth and outer space," Nandi said.

"These ring currents get enhanced during geomagnetic disturbances induced by solar storms and thus the likelihood of observing the red auroral arcs is higher at times when we are in the midst of a severe geomagnetic storm," he also said.

According to the CESSI, the sun began to produce powerful solar flares on Wednesday, which led to five plasma eruptions that could have disrupted Earth's power grids and satellites in orbit. "We are witnessing severe Space Weather at levels we have not seen in the last two decades. It might get worse as more solar storms are expected to impact Earth or maybe just more spectacular auroras for all," Nandi said.

Calling this an anomalous occurrence, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) notes that the flares appear to be connected to a sunspot 16 times the diameter of Earth. In 2003, a strong geomagnetic storm destroyed power transformers in South Africa and knocked out power in Sweden.

In conclusion, the rare crimson spectacle witnessed over Ladakh serves as a stunning reminder of the intricate dance between the sun and Earth's magnetosphere, highlighting the awe-inspiring beauty and power of our solar system.