Northern Lights Captured In Heart Shape Over Norway Ahead Of Valentine's Day

Ahead of Valentine's Day, a picture showing the Northern Lights glowing in an unmistakable heart-like shape has gone viral on social media. Captured in Norway by photographer Kristoffer Vangen, the viral shot showcases the vibrant green glow of the Aurora Borealis against a crystal-clear night sky.

In an Instagram post, Vangen highlighted that he had wanted to click a picture of Northern Lights in the shape of 'something' for a long time. His previous attempts did not produce the desired results, but luck turned his way on a fine Friday night.

"I always wanted to capture the northern lights shaped as something. I imagined a bird, a tornado, or a skull or something like this," said Vangen, adding: "It's been close a few times, but I never felt the shape was clear enough, it just looked messy. Last Friday I finally got something! Perhaps a heart is a bit cliche but I'm not complaining."

Auroras are formed when energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere. An aurora can appear in a variety of colours, from an eerie green to blue and purple to pink and red. When particles from space bombard gases in the atmosphere, they can give the atoms and molecules of the gases extra energy that's released as tiny specks of light.

'Mindblowing'

As the post went viral, a section of social media users initially could not believe it was a real picture, while others were enchanted by the beauty captured by Vangen.

"Mindblowing. People who think this is AI don't know nature is more magical than they think," said one user, while another added: "One of the most beautiful Northern Light pictures I have ever seen."

A third commented: "Say what you will, but the reality is one: Even nature expresses God's love! I have no doubt that the photo is real and I am grateful for your dedication and for sharing something so rare Like a record of this. Thank you."

A fourth said: "It's a shame that nowadays you have to justify yourself or prove that it was really photographed that way. But my first thought was also that it was AI. You've managed to take a really great, extraordinary picture."

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A post shared by Kristoffer Vangen (@krisvang)

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Not AI

Reacting to allegations of the pic being AI, Vangen provided a detailed explanation of how he clicked and edited the pic to produce the final product.

"This post got way more engagement than I expected! Thank you all for the mostly nice comments and messages. Some people are asking if it's Al, and in today's world, I think it's very understandable, but no, it's not Al," Vangen clarified before showing the RAW file.

"Some final words on this topic. Every photographer has different rules for themselves for what's allowed. I do some different things depending on the situation, but most of my pictures so far, is just one regular shot, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop. But I often focus stack, and sometimes blends. Especially with night photography, blends, stacks and even composites are very common," he added.