Green polar vortices beneath the auroral oval

In the world there are special places where auroras appear even without geomagnetic storms. The Norwegian city of Tromso is one of those places. Ola Salomonsen was there last night when the sky was filled with green swirls.

"Polar lights danced above the city almost immediately after sunset, says Salomonsen. Theoretically, it is strange to see such bright auroras when geomagnetic conditions were so calm. But this is not surprising, if you are directly under the auroral oval".

The auroral oval is the light area around the North pole, which is never completely dark, as energized by the flow of energetic particles falling from space. Particles are sent there because of the shape of the magnetic field of our planet. In this region the auroras grow and diminish, but never disappear for long, even during low geomagnetic activity. Of course, with the exception of summer.

"In April the nights are dark just a few hours, and with the approach of summer, the dark period will become shorter. In tromsø this week could be the last season with visible auroras" — said the photographer.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»