At the time of this writing, 2.1 million people had watched a video on TikTok of a passenger’s surprise view on a flight from San Francisco to New York City. The video was posted on TikTok.
The video Michael Abramyan (@mikeabr) shared on TikTok had a caption that said: “not something you see often on this route #northernlights #aurora #astrophotography.”
At the start of the clip, the camera moves over rows of seats in a dark aeroplane cabin.
A message was written on top of the video: “POV: you’re the only one on your flight who noticed what was outside the window.” The video showed a view of a plane wing against what looked like the Northern Lights.
On the wing, the video showed a steady flash of red, and in the distance, a strip of bright green ran along the horizon. Before the clip ended, a bright red sky was seen just above the green strip.
In a later comment, the original poster said that the plane was going from San Francisco International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, which is “not a common route to see the Northern Lights” (smiley face with star-shaped eyes).
The Northern Lights, also called the Aurora Borealis, are caused by electrons colliding with the upper parts of Earth’s atmosphere. “In these collisions, the electrons transfer their energy to the atmosphere, which excites the atoms and molecules to higher energy states,” says the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“When they calm down to a lower level of energy, they release their energy as light. The way this works is like how a neon light does.”
Usually, you can see the Northern Lights “somewhere on Earth” right after sunset or right before sunrise. They can’t be seen during the daytime.
They usually form between 80 and 500 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, but the NOAA says that they can be seen up to 1,000 kilometres away “when the aurora is bright and conditions are right.”
The Space Weather Prediction Center said that the magnetic field of the Earth “guides the electrons so that the aurora looks like two ovals that are almost in the middle of the magnetic poles. During big geomagnetic storms, the ovals grow away from the poles, making it possible to see the aurora over most of the United States.
“When there are more storms and substorms that are bigger and happen more often, the aurora moves towards the equator. During big events, people as far south as the U.S., Europe, and Asia can see the aurora “said the centre.
Several TikTok users were blown away by the video’s amazing view.
Anshul soni said in a comment that got 18,700 likes, “I don’t believe that the pilot didn’t say it out loud.”
User Mama Casss wrote: “I would have said, “Hey, everyone, look out the window—so it’s pretty!” “in a comment that was liked by 12,600 people.
User Laila Fallaha said, “I would have screamed [crying laughing emoji],” while user Caleb Verpoort just said, “Unbelievable…”
Dan Giff said, “That’s a priceless view,” and aly said, “You’re so lucky to see this!!!”
