A ‘cannibalistic’ solar flare triggered a spectacular Northern Lights show over the northern parts of the United States on Wednesday, with a view to the south. california And Connecticut.
It came as a result of three eruptions from the Sun since Monday, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The third eruption overtook the previous two CMEs to become the ‘cannibalistic’ solar flare and ‘eat’ it.
Its turbocharged energy results in the colorful nighttime display resulting from electrons colliding with Earth’s thin upper atmosphere.
On Wednesday the blast reached Earth’s magnetic field, resulting in a level 3 – out of a 5 point scale – a geomagnetic storm. The Hurricane Resulted in a Stunning Display of the Northern Lights from Washington I.
Friday’s beautiful storm was also seen in parts of California and Connecticut, whose latitudes are usually too far south to hold demonstrations.
The eruptions are associated with sunspots, which are magnetic storms on the surface of the Sun.
Hongming Zheng captures a stunning view of the Northern Lights in Lincoln, California on Wednesday, November 4
The sky of Northern California was illuminated by a brilliant red glow as the aurora borealis peaked through the clouds
The beautiful display was seen for only a few minutes on Wednesday night, as is common for the Northern Lights.
Bright green lights brighten the sky over North Dakota on Monday, November 1 as a geomagnetic storm begins
The Northern Lights illuminate the night sky in North Dakota as solar flares react to Earth’s magnetic fields
Beautiful natural phenomena also seen in northeastern Montana as clouds began to roll in but did not block the view
photographer hongming zheng The Northern Lights captured as they illuminated the sky in stunning shades of red as far south as Lincoln, Calif.
Solar flames bring an influx of electrons that interact with oxygen and nitrogen in Earth’s magnetic field around the planet. In turn, this produces the colored waves of the aurora borealis – the scientific term for the Northern Lights.
The Sun’s activity is tracked in an 11-year cycle. The Sun is currently in ‘Solar Cycle 25’, which scientists expect to peak in the summer of 2025.
‘We have actually had very little activity over the past several years, as is the case during solar minimums, but we are now accelerating into the next solar cycle maximum that we expect in 2025,’ Bill Murtagh National Oceanic and a program coordinator for the Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) Space.com.
“We are seeing an increase in activity that would be expected from this increase in the solar cycle,” Murtagh said. ‘This is the stage of our awakening.’
He explained the CME as ‘a billion-ton cloud of plasma gas with magnetic fields’. ‘So the Sun shot a magnet into space and that magnet did a transit of 93 million miles from the Sun to the Earth.’
While the Northern Lights are usually easier to spot in dark remote locations, this week the lights were strong enough to dazzle the bright city skyline in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Drone footage recorded orange, yellow and green light shimmering from the aurora borealis in the Alberta sky
Brightly colored lights were recorded dancing to a beautiful performance in the dark sky over Manitoba, Canada
Pink and green lights flashed between stars in Manitoba, Canada this week as three solar flares orbit Earth
Earth’s own magnetic field that caused a geomagnetic storm this week reacted to CME magnetic fields.
The first two CMEs essentially cleared the way for the third CME which ‘cannibalized’ the last two to travel 93 million miles to reach Earth’s orbit.
Dr. Mark Conde, Professor of Physics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, explained this phenomenon. Fox News.
‘Most likely, neither (CME) would have ejected enough material to produce more than a moderate disturbance on Earth,’ Conde said. ‘But in this case, the blast front ejected by the second flare was traveling toward Earth faster than the material ejected by the first flare – so it passed the extended front of material from the first flare.’
Conde reported that the third CME became a ‘cannibalistic’ solar when it caught Sunday’s glow ‘and ate it.’
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tweeted, ‘Several CMEs to include a full Halo CME occurred on Nov. 1-2.
The NOAA Space Weather account tweeted, ‘G3 hurricane level was reached at 03/2359 UTC due to anticipated CME arrival.’
‘The two would have produced a far greater impact than any CME on Earth combined.’ According to Fox News, the combined flares struck Earth at 1.8 million mph, which is about three times the average speed of the CME.
A CME can grow as it travels through space depending on the size of the CME and how the two magnetic fields align.
Murtagh explained that scientists have been able to model how the CME will travel, but only after measuring the magnetic field once the explosion reaches the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a NOAA spacecraft that orbits the Sun from Earth. One million miles away.
At that point, the geomagnetic storm is usually about 20 to 30 minutes from hitting Earth.
These types of storms have occurred hundreds of times, but they can affect critical infrastructure in remote areas, including power grids, navigation satellites and airplane radio communications.
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