Pink Skies Over Norway, Topped By Green Aurora (PICTURES)
A rare pink sky at night is a husky dogs' delight when you are travelling the Arctic Circle.
The once-in-five-years moment a winter’s night sky turned pink over Svalbard, Norway – which is shrouded in darkness for another month – when to top it off a bright green aurora appeared.
Setting the sky on fire despite the blackout – the dramatic pink sky was caused by freak high clouds that were pushed up by low pressure air, so they rose over the curvature of the earth and were hit by sunlight.
The light that reached the clouds was refracted to the red part of the spectrum – just like the dramatic sunsets we enjoy in other parts of the planet.
German photographer Kerstin Langenberger, 29, captured the awe-inspiring moment when she was travelling 800 miles from the North Pole.
“The pictures of the northern lights on the pink sky are incredibly precious to me as I know that I will most likely never see anything like it again,” explained Kerstin.
“The polar night so far north is very dark - but on that particular day, the sky was on fire.
“A weather phenomena and very far-stretching high clouds brought sunlight into the total darkness and coloured the starry sky pink.
“And if that wasn't amazing enough, northern lights appeared the same moment, creating photographs that, as far as I know, are totally unique.
“You never ever get to see pink skies and northern lights in one shot because usually this is technically impossible.
“But this day was everything but normal, and I was fortunate enough to be out on a trip to document it.
“Even those that have lived here on Svalbard are stunned and tell me that pink skies during the darkest time of the year happen only once or twice a decade.
“And nobody I have talked to has then seen northern lights together on the same sky.
“My dogs they probably appreciated the sunlight as much as we humans did - as we had not seen it for nearly three months."
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First Posted: 31/01/2012 16:46 Updated: 31/01/2012 16:52