Northern Lights Chaser Captures Mysterious Scene: ‘Like Another Galaxy’

A view of a “mystery galaxy shape” has been captured by a northern lights chaser in Iceland.

An image of the unusual display was shared four days ago in a Reddit post by Shang Yang (user thatonecityinchina) with a caption saying “Can anyone help identify this mystery galaxy shape that appeared in the northern lights?”

The image shows a large white circle against a green northern lights backdrop overlooking a snow-covered landscape.

Yang told Newsweek that the photo was taken on March 5 just north of Akureyri, a town in northern Iceland, at 1:04 a.m. local time.

The Redditor said: “My friends and I were chasing the northern lights during our trip. We saw that the Icelandic Meteorological Office forecasted a night of particularly strong activity of aurora activity, so we went to a remote area to get away from the Akureyri city lights.”

According to Yang, at around 1 a.m. local time, one of them noticed a small circle of light up north that quickly expanded into what is shown in the picture in the Reddit post.

“It formed into a large spiral shape and seemed to be coming towards us; it lasted around five minutes before it disappeared,” Yang noted.

Valerie Rapson, an astronomer and professor of physics and astronomy at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta, told Newsweek that the recent launch of a Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX, the American aerospace company, carrying small satellites from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, is “what likely caused the spiral shape in the photo.”

Rapson explained: “These interesting blue/white spiral patterns can appear after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. When the second stage of the rocket is spinning and vents fuel or performs a de-orbit burn, it creates a white-colored spiral in the sky.”

Additional images of the scene that Yang shared with Newsweek show “the beginning of the spiral forming in the lights” before it is seen “quickly expanding and beginning to take shape,” the Redditor noted.

Yang also shared a video with Newsweek capturing the spiral as it was forming, which shows the white circle against a pitch-black dark sky. A voice is heard in the clip saying “that is f****** sick…that looks like a goddamn UFO…” The spiral expanded and “went into the general direction of Akureyri,” the Redditor recalled.

“In the moment, it was both awe-inspiring and a little scary because we knew it was definitely not part of normal aurora activity; it almost looked like another galaxy amongst the lights,” Yang said.

The latest Reddit post comes in a year where northern lights chasers may be able to catch a view of the natural light display from parts of the world where they’re normally not seen.

Scientists say 2024 may see the strongest northern lights (also known as Aurora Borealis) activity in the past 20 years as well as the decade to come due to high solar activity, which is expected to peak between January and October this year, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Stronger solar cycles produce more solar storms with greater intensity, which drives geomagnetic activity. “If the geomagnetic field is active, then the aurora will be brighter and further from the poles,” where the northern lights are typically most visible. This means that the Aurora Borealis may be viewed from lower latitudes than usual in 2024.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains: “When space weather activity increases and more frequent and larger storms and substorms occur, the aurora extends equatorward. During large events, the aurora can be observed as far south as the U.S., Europe and Asia.”

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