The aurora borealis colored the Italian sky pink in a very rare phenomenon due to a strong geomagnetic storm. The sky show was a nice surprise for astrophiles, with reports from most of Italy, especially in the north and northeast, but also as far as Puglia. Areas where the sky was darkest, away from city lights, such as the Dolomites to some coastal areas, were favored.
This is a rare phenomenon because auroras are visible almost exclusively in the polar regions, where the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the swarm of particles from the Sun is most intense. On Monday night, however, auroras also colored the sky in Italy, with extraordinary pink hues observed and photographed by astrophiles and astronomers across the country.
The polar aurora is a clear manifestation of an important interaction between our star, the Sun, and our planet, Earth, particularly between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere. Auroras usually occur at polar latitudes, but when the solar activity that triggers them is of extraordinary intensity they can become visible even at intermediate latitudes, such as those of Italy.
