Satellite image of aurora over western Canada, captured by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensor on the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite at 3:23 a.m. Mountain Time on November 5, 2023m
Drapes of colorful light danced across the sky after solar storms sent stimulated particles crashing into Earths upper atmosphere.
In early November 2023, sky watchers across North America and Europe published photos on social media of spectacular displays of the northern lights, likewise referred to as the aurora borealis. Colorful ribbons of light filled night skies, prompted by a strong geomagnetic storm in Earths magnetosphere.
Satellite Observations
The NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellites VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensing unit captured this image of the aurora over western Canada at 3:23 a.m. Mountain Time (10:23 Universal Time) on November 5, 2023. The aurora was so bright near Edmonton, Canada, it almost saturated the satellite sensing unit. The event continued into the next evening, when skies in Glasgow, Montana, danced with pink and thumbs-up. The lights were specifically bright near the U.S.-Canada border and in Alaska, however they were likewise faintly visible as far south as Texas.
Development of the Aurora
The creation of an aurora typically starts when the Sun sends a rise of charged particles– through solar flares, coronal mass ejections, or an active solar wind– toward Earth. The solar particles hit the magnetosphere and compress it, altering the configuration of Earths electromagnetic field. Some particles trapped in the magnetic field are sped up into Earths upper environment where they thrill nitrogen and oxygen particles and release photons of light, called the aurora.
Specifics of the November Aurora
The aurora on November 5– 6 was the product of multiple coronal mass ejections, big expulsions of magnetized plasma from the Suns corona, according to NOAAs Space Weather Prediction. These bursts of plasma and energetic waves from the Sun crashed into Earths upper atmosphere, causing a strong geomagnetic storm.
An aurora glows in Earths environment as the International Space Station skyrocketed 260 miles above Utah during orbital nighttime. Credit: NASA
Prior Observations From Space
A week before the storm, an astronaut on the International Space Station caught a photo (above) of another aurora while orbiting 260 miles (418 kilometers) above Utah on October 28, 2023. This aurora was most likely triggered by a coronal hole that turned towards Earth, according to the Space Weather Prediction.
Person Science Opportunities
If you like viewing aurora screens such as these, you can take part in aurora citizen science through a project called Aurorasaurus. The job tracks auroras around the globe through reports to its website and on social media, then produces a real-time international map of those reports. Resident researchers validate reports, and each verified sighting functions as a valuable information point for researchers to integrate and evaluate into space weather models. The project is a public-private collaboration with the New Mexico Consortium and is supported by the National Science Foundation and NASA.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin and Wanmei Liang, using VIIRS day-night band information from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. Astronaut picture ISS070-E-14996 was obtained on October 28, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital video camera utilizing a 24 millimeter lens and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space. The International Space Station Program supports the lab as part of the ISS National Lab to assist astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the biggest value to researchers and the public, and to make those images easily offered on the Internet.
The NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellites VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensor recorded this image of the aurora over western Canada at 3:23 a.m. Mountain Time (10:23 Universal Time) on November 5, 2023. The aurora was so bright near Edmonton, Canada, it nearly saturated the satellite sensing unit. The production of an aurora normally begins when the Sun sends a rise of charged particles– through solar flares, coronal mass ejections, or an active solar wind– towards Earth. Some particles trapped in the magnetic field are accelerated into Earths upper atmosphere where they thrill nitrogen and oxygen particles and release photons of light, known as the aurora.
If you like viewing aurora screens such as these, you can get involved in aurora resident science through a job called Aurorasaurus.