Science and Health

Aurora observed in night sky over southern Norway

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-13 23:23

OSLO - Aurora, a phenomenon more often observed at night within the Arctic Circle, appeared in the early hours of Monday in the sky over the southern parts of Norway, an event described as relatively rare by experts, Norwegian media reported Monday morning.

When most residents in Oslo were asleep, Paal Brekke, a researcher with the Norwegian Space Center, were busy taking photos of the aurora at a place called Sorkedalen, which lies about 14 km north of the capital city.

Brekke, who made several snapshots of a clear bright green light in the early hours of Monday, was quoted as saying that the good weather made this rare sighting in Oslo possible.

Meanwhile Christan Irgens, a resident of Bergen, a port city on Norway's southwestern coast, told local newspaper Bergens Tidende that he saw green light in the night sky when he was on his way home from school late last night.

"It lit up all over Bergen," said Irgens. He said he had never seen aurora in Bergen.

Roar Inge Hansen, a meteorologist from Norway's Storm Weather Center, said it was not unusual to see aurora as far south as in Bergen, although he admitted that it was a little surprising anyway.

Norwegian experts said they believed the appearance of aurora in the sky over southern Norway last night was caused by Thursday's outbreak of what is known as the Solar Storm.