Residents of Tyumen Region See Northern Lights at Night

Last night, residents of northern Tyumen region were able to observe a bright celestial phenomenon—the northern lights. The sky shimmered with green lights near Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk, and other settlements in Yugra.

Social media users report that besides Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO), the aurora could be seen in Tomsk region, near Yekaterinburg, and in Perm Krai. Residents of Tobolsk were also lucky. As reported by the administration of Tobolsk district, the lights were seen in the village of Laitamak and the settlement of Nadtsy.

The northern lights are a kind of giant natural light show that occurs when charged particles from the Sun (solar wind) collide with Earth«s atmosphere. Our planet catches them with its magnetic field and directs them towards the poles, where they »ignite« the sky by striking gas particles in the atmosphere—oxygen glows green and red, while nitrogen glows blue and purple. The stronger the solar activity, the brighter and further south this phenomenon can be seen.

Have you ever seen the Tyumen northern lights? If not, be sure to check it out in beautiful photographs. By the way, the aurora has become less rare in Tyumen region. We found out why and what will happen next—read our exclusive material.