Aurora above Fjord Landscape

Aurora Borealis appears above a fjord in Lofoten Islands in northern Norway. As noted by the photographer “At latitude 69 degrees I was well inside the Arctic region. It was a crystal clear night in Lofoten, quite rare in autumn. The Moon was shining on the calm waters of the Norwegian Sea, sinking through fantastic fjord structure of the area. Listening to the everlasting orchestra of sand and waves I suddenly noticed a pale-green ray in the sky. A short but intense aurora activity appeared in the northern horizon, which was a delicate surprise in such a low-solar activity time. It made my night!” Aurora is produced by the collision of charged particles from Earth’s magnetosphere, mostly electrons but also protons and heavier particles, with atoms and molecules of Earth’s atmosphere (at altitudes above 80 km). The particles originate from the Sun and reach the Earth in the stream of solar wind.