[ad_1]
The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft captured this image of a giant hole (dark area at the top) in the outside atmosphere of the sun, or corona, on September 11, 2018.
Credit: NASA / SDO
The aurora borealis had a whiplash through a big hole in the sun's atmosphere and there might be something happening again tonight.
According to Spaceweather.com, a moderate geomagnetic storm made the twinkling aurora visible south to Minnesota and Wisconsin in the south until September 11th.
This storm was triggered by a particularly fast and powerful solar wind explosion – the flow of charged particles that constantly run out of the sun – which escaped through a gaping hole in the outside atmosphere of the storm. sun, known as the crown.
Northern and southern auroras occur when such particles collide with molecules high up in the earth 's atmosphere, thus generating a glow. The Earth's magnetic field channels these particles to the poles of the planet, which is why auroras are usually limited to high latitudes. But special circumstances – such as coronal holes and giant solar plasma explosions called coronal mass ejections – can increase the intensity and range of these sparks.
A moderate geomagnetic storm brought the aurora borealis to the sight of aerial observers in the south to Minnesota and Wisconsin in the early morning of September 11, 2018.
Credit: NOAA / SWPC
The geomagnetic storm responsible for this morning's ramp-up is disappearing, reported Spaceweather.com. According to forecasters at the Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there is still a 70% chance that a small storm will occur tomorrow.
So, look tonight if you live in the Upper Midwest, New England, the Pacific Northwest, or anywhere else on similar lines of latitude, you may be lucky!
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @ michaeldwall and Google+. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
[ad_2]
Source link
