The massive volcano eruption in Tonga earlier this year is still impacting the environment, including creating stunning skyscapes in Antarctica.
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai erupted on January 15, triggering deadly tsunamis and cutting the island off as communications went down.
The explosion and debris cloud was so big it was seen from space.
Stuart Shaw, who is stationed at Scott Base on the continent for winter, was prompted to share the beautiful images after seeing a story from NIWA about pink skies in Aotearoa caused by remnant aerosols in the stratosphere.
That made him realise he was seeing the same effect at the bottom of the world.
"Usually in mid-winter, Antarctica is nearly continuously dark, except for a slight ‘nautical twilight' at around midday which means the horizon is faintly visible in good conditions," Shaw said.
"But this year, we were presented with quite a show, which had most of the station personnel grabbing jackets and running outside with their cameras to look at the awesome colours.
"Believe it or not, I haven't edited these colours either, they are pretty much as we saw them. It's incredible," he said.
NIWA forecaster Nava Fedaeff says that satellite lidar data shows an abundance of aerosols in the stratosphere between 15km and 24km above Antarctica, which weren't present before the eruption.
"Stratospheric aerosols can circulate the globe for months after a volcanic eruption, scattering and bending light as the sun dips or rises below the horizon, creating a glow in the sky with hues of pink, blue, purple, and violet," Fedaeff said.
"These volcanic twilights are known as 'afterglows', with the colour and intensity dependent on the amount of haze and cloudiness along the path of light reaching the stratosphere."
The aerosols are mostly sulphate particles, but as this was an undersea eruption, water vapour droplets as well as sea salt are also likely to be in the mix, NIWA said.
"Nature never fails to put on a show in Antarctica, and it can be beautiful or destructive", says Antarctica New Zealand's chief science advisor Jordy Hendrikx.
"These photographs capture the awe it inspires, and how connected our planet is. Antarctica is some 5000km from New Zealand, some 7000km from Tonga, but we share our skies.
"What happens in Antarctica affects us at home, and the other way around too. Much of the science that we support aims to understand those dynamics in the atmosphere, oceans, and ecosystems, and to help better understand the connectivity between Antarctica, New Zealand, and the wider world."
