Purple northern lights recorded in Ukraine: Spectacular footage of phenomenon

Northern Lights in Ukraine

The purple light was visible in combination with the Perseid meteor shower. The phenomenon could be observed over Kyiv, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, and other cities across Ukraine.

"This uncommon phenomenon was also noticed in Volyn, in Manevychi. Usually, the northern lights are observed in polar latitudes of 90-70°, while Ukraine is located at latitudes of 52-44°," explained the Hydrometeorology Center.

They also noted that Ukrainians were able to enjoy this phenomenon thanks to an anticyclone that caused clear, dry weather.

"Clear skies are expected until the end of the workweek, meaning that the night sky will remain clear. So if the northern lights reach our latitudes again, Ukrainians will be able to observe them against a clear sky," said Vasyl Klemiuk, the on-duty meteorologist at the Volyn Regional Hydrometeorology Center.

Northern Lights in Volyn (Photo: Volyn Regional Hydrometeorology Center/Oksana Kovalenko)

Ukrainians on social media widely shared photos of this unusual phenomenon for our country. They noted that the aurora's vibrant colors were more pronounced when captured with long-exposure photography, while the sky's colors were less striking when observed in real time.

Northern Lights in Ukraine (Photo: Facebook/Andrii Nemirovskiy)

Northern Lights in Ukraine (Photo: Facebook/Andrii Nemirovskiy)

Northern Lights in Ukraine (Photo: Facebook/Andrii Nemirovskiy)

Northern Lights in Ukraine (Photo: Facebook/Andrii Nemirovskiy)

Why the Northern Lights appear over Ukraine

The aurora borealis occurs due to high solar activity. During solar flares, a cloud of particles is released into interplanetary space. Some of these particles can enter Earth's magnetosphere, though the magnetic field deflects most of them. The particles that do reach the atmosphere excite gas atoms, causing the aurora.

The appearance of the northern lights is not typical for Ukraine's latitudes, but due to the high solar activity, an unusually large number of these particles are reaching the atmosphere over our country.

According to Ivan Kryachko, head of the laboratory at the Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Sun is at its peak activity during its 11-year cycle in 2024. As this activity begins to decrease, fewer particles will reach Earth.

Why the Aurora was purple

The most common color of the northern lights is green, followed by red. A much rarer hue is purple, which occurs at lower altitudes. This color forms because ionized nitrogen molecules, which can emit both blue and red light, combine to create a purple tint.

Also, read about how the aurora in May was the largest in the last 500 years.

Previously, we wrote about scientists explaining why the northern lights appear in different colors.

Sources: a post by the Volyn Regional Hydrometeorology Center, expert commentary, data from astronomer Ivan Kryachko, information from the Phys.org website, and a social media user's photo.