(ORDO NEWS) — People across the UK, from Shetland to Somerset and from Norfolk to Northern Ireland, have recently seen the stunning spectacle of the Northern Lights or Northern Lights.
But what causes this beautiful phenomenon? and why did it appear so far south?
For thousands of years, people have associated the ghostly northern lights with the world of restless spirits.
But over the past century, science has revealed that the auroras originate in the region surrounding our planet. The near-Earth region of space is known as the magnetosphere.
It is a cocktail of atoms and molecules from the Earth’s upper atmosphere, destroyed and heated by solar radiation (electromagnetic radiation emitted by the Sun).
The northern lights are produced when these electrically charged particles fall into the upper atmosphere. Most of the incoming particles that stimulate light are electrons.
As precipitation patterns change, the aurora shimmers and dances across the sky. The electrons accelerate down along the Earth’s magnetic field towards the polar regions.
The sun emits a couple of million tons of particles every second, creating the solar wind that constantly flows through our solar system.
The solar wind carries the remnants of the Sun’s powerful magnetic field with it, bathing the planets in a magnetized vapor of particles smaller than an atom.
The interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere powers the northern lights.
So what happened this week that caused the auroras to be at much lower latitudes than usual?
Late last week, scientists spotted a pair of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on the Sun. CME is an eruption of material from the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona).
These explosive blasts can eject billions of tons of material in almost any direction, and the Earth is usually hit a couple of times a month.
As it turned out, this pair of CMEs headed for Earth, with the first leaving the Sun late on February 24, and the second late on February 25.
Moving at a speed of about 3 million kilometers per hour (1,864,113 miles per hour). ), the first CME took about 48 hours to travel 150 million kilometers (93,205,679 miles) to Earth and crashed into the magnetosphere around 19:00 (UK time) on Sunday 26 February.
The collision of a billion tons of highly magnetized, electrically charged material caused a geomagnetic storm (a major disturbance in the Earth’s magnetosphere).
Electrons in the magnetosphere rushed into the Earth’s atmosphere, causing intense auroras that quickly spread much further. equator than usual.
Timing was key. A geomagnetic storm occurred in the early evening in the UK. Despite the darkness, most people did not sleep, and the weather was good, the sky over most of the country was clear.
As the geomagnetic storm intensified over the next few hours, photos of the aurora from south to Kent filled social media timelines, no doubt prompting more people to scan the skies.
Had the CME arrived a few hours late, most people in the UK would have been in bed and likely missed the event.
Cloudy weather ruined the show. But the timing was right, and the notorious unpredictability of the weather in the UK contributed to it (this time).
By late Sunday evening, my phone rang. As an astronaut scientist studying the relationship between the sun and the earth, I am often contacted by the media when the aurora is observed over the UK.
On Monday morning, most of the media were working. with stories from the previous night’s showing. Of course, most channels have found experts who talk about science.
But for me this event was different. Usually the work of the media “the next morning” involves answering the inevitable question.
Will we see the Northern Lights again today?
Usually the answer is “probably not”. In most cases, after 24 hours, the intensity of the geomagnetic storm weakens, and the northern lights recede from the UK to their usual location at the edge of the Arctic Circle.
But this time it’s different. were different. The second CME launched to Earth was still on its way, so I had a rare opportunity to give an optimistic forecast.
The second CME arrived after the first and touched the Earth with a glancing blow. around noon on Monday, February 27th.
Weather conditions in the UK have worsened and many hopeful aurora hunters have been halted by clouds.
But geomagnetic activity remained high for the second night in a row, and the cloud-free skies were turned to another display of the northern lights.
When will we next see them over the UK? It’s hard to say, but the outlook is improving.
The activity of the Sun varies during the 11-year solar cycle, with CMEs (and auroras over the UK) being more likely during the active parts of the cycle.
Currently, solar activity is increasing as we approach the next solar maximum, expected in 2025.
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