Those particles are sent out crashing into Earths upper atmosphere at altitudes of 100 to 400 kilometers (60 to 250 miles), where they excite oxygen and nitrogen molecules and release photons. The task tracks auroras around the world by means of reports to its website and on Twitter, then produces a real-time international map of those reports.
The auroras were a noticeable manifestation of a minor geomagnetic storm– a disturbance of the upper environment triggered by the interaction of pressure waves and electromagnetic energy from the Sun engaging with Earths magnetic field (or magnetosphere). In this case, the Sun was gushing streams of high-speed solar wind through a short-term hole in the solar corona.
The accident of solar particles and pressure into Earths magnetosphere speeds up particles already trapped in the area around Earth (such as in the radiation belts). Those particles are sent out crashing into Earths upper atmosphere at altitudes of 100 to 400 kilometers (60 to 250 miles), where they excite oxygen and nitrogen particles and release photons. The outcomes are rays, sheets, and curtains of dancing light in the sky.
Solar Cycle 25 is now underway, which means more frequent opportunities to see auroras. Solar cycles are generally measured by the increase and fall in the variety of sunspots, but they likewise accompany boosts in solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), radio emissions, and other forms of space weather. Scientists have actually anticipated that the Sun will reach its next peak of activity (solar optimum) in mid-2025.
The job tracks auroras around the world by means of reports to its website and on Twitter, then generates a real-time international map of those reports. Resident researchers verify the tweets and reports, and each validated sighting serves as a valuable data point for researchers to examine and integrate into space weather designs.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, utilizing VIIRS day-night band information from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership.
February 4, 2022
A blast of high-speed solar wind provoked dancing auroras in early February.
Auroras are a brilliant reminder that Earth is continuously taking in energy from the Sun– even on the night side. Our nearest star bathes the world in streams of energetic particles, magnetic fields, and radiation that stimulate our atmosphere and occasionally light up the night sky.
At 2:20 a.m. Central Daylight Time (08:20 Universal Time) on February 4, 2022, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite got this image of the aurora borealis, or “northern lights,” over central Canada and Hudson Bay. (Auroras were visible for 3 successive nights over North America and Northern Europe.) The nighttime image was made possible through the VIIRS “day-night band,” which measures nighttime light emissions and reflections consisting of airglow, city lights, and reflected moonlight.
The nighttime image was made possible through the VIIRS “day-night band,” which determines nighttime light emissions and reflections including airglow, city lights, and showed moonlight.