Usually at this time the sky over the icy continent remains completely black.
The sky in Antarctica turned red. Pictures of the unusual phenomenon were published by Stuart Shaw from New Zealand, who is based at the Scott Base in Antarctica.
“Usually in the middle of winter in Antarctica, it is almost always dark, except for a slight “marine twilight” around noon, which means that the horizon is barely visible in good conditions. But this year we were treated to quite the show, with most of the station staff grabbing their jackets and running outside with their cameras to look at the stunning colours. Believe it or not, I didn't edit these shots either, they are approximately as we saw them. It's unbelievable,” said Shaw.
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In the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research of New Zealand (NIWA), the unusual phenomenon was explained by the eruption of the Tonga volcano, which occurred in January. Before that, an unusual pink sky was observed in New Zealand itself.
NIWA forecaster Nava Fedaeff said that satellite lidar data showed a large amount of aerosols in the stratosphere at a height of 15 to 24 kilometers above Antarctica, which were not present before the eruption.
“Stratospheric aerosols can circulate around the globe for months after a volcanic eruption, scattering and bending light as the sun sets or rises above the horizon, creating a glow in the sky with hues of pink, blue, magenta and purple. These volcanic twilights are known as 'glows', with the color and intensity depending on the amount of haze and cloud cover on the path of light reaching the stratosphere,” Fedayeff added.
Most of the aerosols are sulfate particles. However, since Tonga's eruption was underwater, it is likely that droplets of water vapor and salt are also present.
In early July, the sky over South Dakota in the USA turned green. Scientists associated this phenomenon with a hurricane.
