Northern Lights Bring Beautiful Pink Glow to Yosemite National Park
On Friday night, visitors and residents near Yosemite National Park were treated to an extraordinary display of nature’s beauty: the Northern Lights. This extremely rare occurrence brought vibrant pink and purple hues to the skies above Yosemite Valley.
The below photo was captured by park officials, showing a truly remarkable scene:
The Northern Lights are caused by interactions between the Earth’s magnetic field and solar radiation. High-energy particles from the sun collide with gases in our planet’s atmosphere, producing the mesmerizing light show. While these solar events can pose potential radiation hazards, Earth’s magnetic field acts as a protective shield, redirecting the particles toward the poles.
During particularly strong geomagnetic storms, like the one experienced over the weekend, the aurora borealis can be seen much farther from the poles, even as far south as Yosemite.
This event marks the most intense geomagnetic storm since 2003 and, to our knowledge, the first time the Northern Lights have been seen in Yosemite in 20 years. What a spectacular event!
