THE PARTY'S OVER: 24 hours after a G1-class storm sparked auroras from Wisconsin to New Zealand, the party's over. Earth's magnetic field is quieting as the solar wind speed ebbs back down to 400 km/s. Quiet conditions are expected to continue for the three-day forecast window Feb. 8th - 10th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
WHEN AURORAS FALL FROM THE SKY: Yesterday, Feb. 7th, a solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field. The impact was so strong "it made auroras fall out of the sky," says Philippe Morel, who photographed the display from Abisko, Sweden:
"The lights were exceptional and very bright," he says. "This was only a 2 second exposure using my Sony A7s camera."
This type of aurora is called "a corona." It occurs when the source of geomagnetic activity is directly overhead and auroras appear to rain down from the zenith. High-energy particles from the magnetosphere targeted Abisko during this G1-class geomagnetic storm, creating the rare and beautiful display.
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SUNSET SUN PILLAR: Not all colors in the sky are auroras. "Just before dusk on Feb. 5th, the sun emitted a light beam up into the cold clouds over St. Louis, which caused a cloud above it to glow red," reports photographer Glen Wolf. "A long exposure captured all of the colors changing into warm hues, with cloud drag in high winds above the Mississippi River behind the Gateway Arch."
Wolf captured a sunset sun pillar--caused by airborne ice crystals reflecting the rays of the setting sun.
Ice crystals in the air can take many shapes. The ones that cause sun pillars are flat hexagonal prisms, resembling a six-sided stop sign. (Real stop signs have eight sides.) These crystals flutter down to Earth from high wintry clouds--a bit like leaves falling from trees. As they descend, air resistance causes them to lie flat, positioning them just right to reflect the rays of the sun upward into a pillar.
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VALENTINE'S GIFTS FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Does someone in your life love space? Shop the Earth to Sky Store for their perfect Valentine's gift. All items in the store have flown to the stratosphere on board cosmic ray research balloons--and from now until Feb. 14th, everything is 10% off:
Each purchase comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again. Don't forget to enter the coupon code "ILOVESPACE" for your Valentine's discount!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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