Photographer snaps extremely rare 'green flash' coming from Venus

By Harry Baker published about 16 hours ago

A brief flash of green light was recently spotted coming from Venus in the night sky. The colorful shimmer has only been seen a handful of times before.



Looped video footage of a green flash coming from Venus in the night sky
A bright green flash, as well as more subtle shimmers of other colors, was spotted coming from Venus in the night sky above Stockholm on Jan. 8. (Image credit: Peter Rosén)

Venus briefly flashed a shimmering green light in the night sky above Sweden, new footage reveals. The rarely seen phenomenon is almost identical to the ethereal green flashes that are occasionally seen around the sun during sunrises and sunsets.

Photographer Peter Rosén captured the colorful flash coming from one of our closest planetary neighbors while he was watching Venus rise above the horizon in Stockholm in the early hours of Jan. 8, Spaceweather.com reported.

The bright flash, which lasted for around a second, was an "unexpected bonus" that added to what was already an awe-inspiring experience, Rosén told Spaceweather.com.

Similar green flashes are occasionally seen coming from the sun as the sun rises above an ocean horizon. The light shows are caused by light from the celestial objects being refracted, or split apart, as it passes through our planet's atmosphere.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/space/venus/photographer-snaps-extremely-rare-green-flash-coming-from-venus