Aurora over Finland | Earth Science

Aurora over Finland | Earth Science

Photographer Gregory Ash: "Immediately after darkness, the sky exploded with a large twisting and undulating rainbow arc beyond the mountain range in Kilpisjarvi, Finland. At its peak, the snow turned green in the forest and along the snowmobile trail."

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia.

Image Credit: Gregory Ash
Location: Kilpisjarvi, Finland
Gregory's website: https://www.instagram.com/gregash28/
Image Date: Feb. 8, 2026

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