Seven months after the Tonga volcano explosion, the sky over Antarctica shine brightly in purple and orange at night.

The icy middle of winter is brilliant on Antarctica, the southernmost continent on Earth. The normally black skies have been painted in a dazzling array of orange, pink, and purple hues, combining to form a phantasm that seems to have come from an utopian dream.

The Tongan volcano, which last erupted over seven months ago in January, is to thank for the picturesque view it has bestowed upon Antarctica’s entire horizon. Although the huge white continent is nearly 7,000 kilometres away from Tonga, it has been impacted, albeit superficially.

Stuart Shaw, a science technician from New Zealand serving as a winter stationer at Scott Base, was the photographer of the breathtaking photographs.

According to reports, the continent’s stratosphere possesses a sizable aerosol deposit that is responsible for the violet sky. The aerosols are typically released during volcanic eruptions and can hover and move around for months, often distorting the sun’s light and producing these captivating sights.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospherics (NIWA) of New Zealand noted that a similar occurrence had recently been observed in Australia and New Zealand last month after receiving the photographs from Stuart.