The Sun's activity has been the highest in two decades and the effects can be seen in and near the polar regions. Another geomagnetic storm hit Earth on August 3 and 4 triggering in the northern hemisphere. Stunning visuals have now surfaced on social media.
Several social media users shared pictures of the glittering skies in Canada and as far down south as the US. Here's a little aurora animation from around 330 AM local time. — NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) "Make Your Mind Up" East of Carstairs Alberta along TWP-292, 20240804T0830Z Rarely do I ever see an aurora band this high above the horizon a full 70 degrees! — Harlan Thomas (@theauroraguy) My favorite shot of the aurora I’ve ever taken.
— Vincent Ledvina (@Vincent_Ledvina) Beautiful night. Had about an hour or so worth of activity at the lake. — Diane Hammerling (@bbphoto_ca) Aurora in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia 58-55N August 4, 2024 Photo: — Kirill Bakanov (@WeatherSarov1) Timelapse of tonight's down at the North Mole, from about 12.
24am onwards. Naked eye colour visible at its peak. Latitude 32, mid-latitude aurora.
— Shelley ⚓️ (@wheresshelly) The aurora last night in glacier national park! — Bray Falls (@astrofalls) Finally August which means aurora season is coming! 💚 Prime time to learn how to Photograph the aurora or night sky in general. Here's my photo guide: Pay whatever you think it's worth here, helps me out greatly 💚 — Mia Stålnacke (@AngryTheInch) Scientists say the sun is the most active in 23 years as a result of increasing number of sunspots. If there are more sunspots, the number of solar storms will be higher.
According to the Royal Observatory of Belgium's , the monthly average number of sunspots until July in nearly 200 and their eruption when facing the Earth triggers a geomagnetic storm. It is the highest since December 2021. The sun causes events like solar flare (intense burst of light) and coronal mass ejection or CME (ejection of plasma cloud) which can reach Earth and cause harm to satellites, cause radio blackouts and disrupt power grids on ground.
ALSO SEE: Happy ! This past week’s space weather report includes a LOT of activity, including: · 1 X-class flare · 61 M-class flares (!) · 42 coronal mass ejections · 0 geomagnetic storms This video from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the week’s activity. — NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) While solar flares are feared for their potential to cause radio blackouts, the CMEs are what lead to the formation of auroras. They result from the interaction of the charged plasma particles with Earth's magnetic fields and atmospheric gases.
NASA says there have been 42 CME events last week alone. The auroras this weekened were caused by a G2-class geomagnetic storm. The heightened activity of the Sun is because it is in the middle of its 11-year solar cycle.
This activity increases mid-cycle and is relatively low at the beginning and the end of the cycle. Our planet saw the most intense phase of solar storms in May and the effects . Auroras were captured on the red planet as well and the blasted particles were as well.
ALSO SEE:.
