Northern lights dazzle Belgian skies

The northern lights were visible in several places in Belgium on Sunday evening. Social media was flooded with posts about the phenomenon being visible in Belgium and the Netherlands. Some saw a faint glow in the sky with the naked eye, while others captured it with their cameras.

The appearance of the northern lights in Belgium is remarkable. Although photographers were able to capture them at the end of February, the last time the aurora borealis was visible was in 2007.

The phenomenon was also visible in Switzerland, France, Italy, the UK, Ireland, Poland and Ukraine, based on reports from various media outlets and social media posts.

To see the aurora borealis, there must be an explosion of the sun directed towards the Earth, resulting in a cloud of charged particles called the solar wind or plasma. The aurora borealis is located 100 to 150 km above the Earth and is usually seen as a faint glow or moving arcs, beams or curtains of light.

Before scientists provided an explanation for the origin of the phenomenon, different cultures had explanations from their folklore and mythology, based on beliefs about life and death, connections to the spirit world and the battle between supernatural forces in the sky.

^{© PHOTO IMAGO}