NASA has shared a stunning picture of the Northern Lights in Iceland but warned the aurora could wipe out power lines and electronics on Earth.
The spectacular snap was taken by astronomer Juan Carlos Casado back in 2016 but was selected as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the day on Sunday.
The picture captures the aurora borealis over Thingvallavatn Lake in Iceland.
Casado wrote in the picture caption: “Admire the beauty but fear the beast.
“The beauty is the aurora overhead, here taking the form of great green spiral, seen between picturesque clouds with the bright Moon to the side and stars in the background.
“The beast is the wave of charged particles that creates the aurora but might, one day, impair civilisation.”
The natural light display happens when electrically charged particles from the sun clash with particles in the Earth’s atmosphere.
The natural light display happens when electrically charged particles from the sun clash with particles in the Earth’s atmosphere.
The amazing sight happens above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.
The variations in colour happen when different types of gas particles collide.
The most common auroal colour is a pale yellowish-green which is created by oxygen molecules.
This is usually harmless but boffins warn if there is a particularly strong solar flare it could release a pulse of charged particle which could bring down Earth’s communication’s network.
It happened only once before in 1859 and it was called the “Carrington Event” and it caused telegraph wires to spark and it gave telegraph operators shocks.
Casado said if a similar event were to happen today “that damage might occur to global power grids and electronics on a scale never yet experienced.”
The solar of 1859 also known as the Carrington Event was a geomagnetic storm.
It happened on September 1-2 in 1859.
The strom caused large auroral displays but caused havoc for telegraph systems.
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