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As a solar storm brings the northern lights south into the sky, social media is filled with mesmerizing images of fresh aurora borealis seen across the United States and the United Kingdom.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center had earlier issued a “strong geomagnetic storm warning” for July 29-31.
Solar activity peaked on Tuesday, when auroras and coronal mass ejections from the sun reached Earth, NOAA said.
It further said that the aurora could also be seen in southern parts of the US like Illinois and Oregon.
Check out the social media posts about the aurora sighting here:
Here’s how netizens reacted to this:
“Amazing! #Aurora during this ongoing #solarstorm has reached as far south as Wyoming in the US! This is an auspicious start to many storms to come over the next few days,” said a space weather physicist.
“Absolutely beautiful,” one user commented.
“Wow!! Where are you in Colorado? We are in Boulder hoping to see them,” another said.
“Starting to show up here in NorCal too! Mid-lats wahoohoo,” another user commented.
“I captured this with an iPhone 14 Pro, a 30-second exposure, and a tripod, over Lake Ontario in Baker, NY,” one user said.
What causes aurora?
Increased solar activity causes auroras (polar lights) to appear near the Earth’s poles, known as the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis, and the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis.
When energetic particles from a coronal mass ejection hit the Earth’s magnetic field, they interact with atmospheric gases, producing flashes of different colours in the sky.
According to NASA, the solar storm that struck Earth in early May was the most powerful in twenty years. This surge of solar activity resulted in the most intense aurora display in the last five centuries, with auroras visible as far as the southern United States and as far north as India.
Sunspots, which are responsible for solar flares, and coronal mass ejections, which produce auroras, are driven by the star’s intense and constantly changing magnetic field.
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Published: July 31, 2024, 03:30 PM IST
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