Photographer Harald Albrigtsen has been getting glowing reviews about his new video for Norwegian public television (NRK) showing humpback whales swimming beneath the northern lights, off the coast of the island Kvaløya near the city Tromsø. One could joke that Albrigtsen’s clip is certainly more riveting than the TV station’s past programming featuring salmon swimming upstream or a 134-hour ferry ride.
Also known as aurora borealis, this natural phenomenon is created by “collisions between fast-moving electrons and the oxygen and nitrogen in Earth’s upper atmosphere,” according to NASA. “As they ‘calm down’ and return to their normal state, they emit photons, small bursts of energy in the form of light.” And regarding how the lights get their colors: “Oxygen emits either a greenish-yellow light (the most familiar color of the aurora) or a red light; nitrogen generally gives off a blue light. The blending of these colors can also produce purples, pinks, and white.”
See the 9 Most Breathtaking Photos of the Northern Lights
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com