Vince's Cross at Scott Base under the pink and purple sky. Photo / Stuart Shaw, Fly On The Wall Images
Vince's Cross at Scott Base under the pink and purple sky. Photo / Stuart Shaw, Fly On The Wall Images
The eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano in Tonga last January is still having an effect showing up as spectacular skies above Antarctica.
Scientists working at New Zealand's Scott Base have snapped the results above the frozen continent, those seen here caught by Stuart Shaw, a science technician with Antarctica NZ.
"Usually in midwinter, Antarctica is nearly continuously dark, except for a slight 'nautical twilight' at around midday which means the horizon is faintly visible in good conditions," Shaw told Niwa last week.
The spectacular sky is caused by aerosols from the Tongan volcano. Photo / Stuart Shaw, Fly On The Wall Images
"Most of the station personnel ... (are) running outside with their cameras to look at the awesome colours," he said.
Niwa says that the beautiful skies are caused by remnant aerosols in the stratosphere from January's Tongan volcanic eruption.
Niwa forecaster Nava Fedaeff says that satellite lidar (laser radar) data shows an abundance of aerosols in the stratosphere between 15–24km above Antarctica, which weren't present before the eruption.
Scott Base and the moon under the eerie pink glow. Photo / Stuart Shaw, Fly On The Wall Images
"Stratospheric aerosols can circulate the globe for months after a volcanic eruption, scattering and bending light as the sun dips or rises below the horizon, creating a glow in the sky with hues of pink, blue, purple, and violet," said Fedaeff.
"These volcanic twilights are known as 'afterglows', with the colour and intensity dependent on the amount of haze and cloudiness along the path of light reaching the stratosphere."
The aerosols are mostly sulphate particles, but also include water vapour droplets as well as sea salt are also likely to be in the mix due to the volcano being situated underwater.
"Nature never fails to put on a show in Antarctica, and it can be beautiful or destructive", says Antarctica New Zealand's chief science adviser Jordy Hendrikx.
"These photographs capture the awe it inspires, and how connected our planet is. Antarctica is some 5000km from New Zealand, some 7000km from Tonga, but we share our skies."
"What happens in Antarctica affects us at home, and the other way around too. Much of the science that we support aims to understand those dynamics in the atmosphere, oceans, and ecosystems, and to help better understand the connectivity between Antarctica, New Zealand, and the wider world."
