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The Northern Lights and Southern Lights, which are particularly visible in the countries with high latitudes near the magnetic poles, are noteworthy because of their beauty. Photos and videos of these lights or auroras are often posted on social media in a misleading manner, most possibly because of the splendor of these auroras. This is a fact-check we did regarding one of those misleading posts.
Social Media Posts :
A series of photos circulated on social media, captioned ” Extremely rare white aurora seen over Finland . “
We took steps to verify whether these photos were real.
Fact Check :
The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in Finland are usually visible from late August to early April. The peak season for seeing the Northern Lights is from September to March, with the northern lights most visible in the Finnish sky during autumn (September-October) and spring (March-April). More information on this can be found here , here and here .
Photos and videos from social media users
Many social media users shared photos and videos of the northern lights seen in various parts of Finland on 2nd September.
Here is a video regarding it.
More videos and photos here , here and here .
A Sri Lankan living in Jyväskylä, Finland, had also shared photos of the Northern Lights in this way.
Although the Northern Lights have been seen in green, blue, purple, and pink colors in previous images, reported by Gettyimages and Shutterstock, the white Northern Lights as mentioned in the above social media posts were not seen before, and the pattern mentioned therein was not seen.
There is no official source for the photo posted on social media.
As a result, a Reverse Image search was conducted to verify the information and it was found that these photos had been shared on social media platforms for 9 months.
Northern Lights/Southern Lights/Aurora
The aurora, commonly known as the northern lights (Aurora borealis) and southern lights (Aurora australis), is formed when charged particles (mainly electrons and protons) emitted by the Sun (solar wind) travel towards the polar regions and collide with atoms in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. This collision excites gases such as oxygen and nitrogen, which then emit light in very specific colors. They are most commonly seen in the high sky in green, while pink and red are also seen in the northern and southern lights . More information on this can be found here , here and here .
The white-gray northern lights are rarely seen, and recent observations suggest that these white spots may be caused by atmospheric heating. However, the exact heating mechanisms and chemical processes behind them remain unclear and are still under active investigation. More information on this can be found here , here and here .
The Northern and Southern Lights are not visible in white colour.
However, the researches say that Northern and Southern Lights are not visible in white colour, as mentioned in social media posts.
Social media photos are AI generated.
We tested these photos with AI detection tools to see if they were created using artificial intelligence (AI). The results indicated that they were generated using artificial intelligence.
Previously published false photos of white northern lights
A misleading photo depicting the white northern lights in Finland was widely circulated on social media in 2022.
These photos are not actual northern lights, but rather a series of images created using fluorescent light, posted on a Russian forum in 2010 under the title “Fluorescent Lamp and Electromagnetic Field.” The 12 images were created by a Russian user with the username “NeverSmile.” He has posted the photos as follows :
Dr. Tony Phillips of SpaceWeather said, “Auroras get their colors from specific elements in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, for example, green auroras come from atomic oxygen, blue is associated with molecular nitrogen, and no element produces white.” The report is available here .
Many in society have questioned the above social media photo series, which lack proper sources, and a photographer who photographs the northern lights in Alaska and a PhD student in space physics have stated that AI photos are clearly not recognizable as artificial intelligence, which is detrimental to real aurora photographers.
Also Read : The Northern Lights: A Spectacular Display Influenced by Climate Change
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Title:AI-generated image shows an extremely rare white aurora over Finland
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: Misleading
