Auroral arcs are topped by red rays light up the northeast while the moon and Jupiter shine off to the west in this photo taken last night over a small lake north of Duluth, Minn. Both moon and aurora light are reflected in puddles on the ice. Credit: Bob King
Expect the unexpected when it comes to northern lights. Last night beautifully illustrated nature’s penchant for surprise. A change in the “magnetic direction” of the wind of particles from the sun called the solar wind made all the difference. Minor chances for auroras blossomed into a spectacular, night-long storm for observers at mid-northern latitudes.
6-hours of data from NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft, which measures energetic particles from the sun and other sources from a spot 1.5 million kilometers ahead of Earth toward the sun. By watching the Bz graph, you’ll get advance notice of the potential for auroras. Click to visit the site. Credit: NOAA
Packaged with the sun’s wind are portions of its magnetic field. As that material – called the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) – sweeps past Earth, it normally glides by, deflected by our protective magnetic field, and we’re no worse for the wear. But when the solar magnetic field points south – called a southward Bz – it can cancel Earth’s northward-pointing field at the point of contact, opening a portal. Once linked, the IMF dumps high-speed particles into our atmosphere to light up the sky with northern lights.
A large red patch briefly glowed above the bright green arc around 11:15 p.m. CDT last night May 3. The color was faintly visible with the naked eye. Credit: Bob King
Spiraling down magnetic field lines like firefighters on firepoles, billions of tiny solar electrons strike oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the thin air 60-125 miles up. When the excited atoms return back to their normal rest states, they shoot off niblets of green and red light that together wash the sky in multicolor arcs and rays. Early yesterday evening, the Bz plot in the ACE satellite data dipped sharply southward (above), setting the stage for a potential auroral display.
After an initial flurry of bright rays, the aurora scaled back to two bright, diffuse arcs with subtle rayed textures before erupting again around 11:30 p.m. Credit: Bob King
Nothing in the space weather forecast would have led you to believe northern lights were in the offing for mid-latitude skywatchers last night. Maybe a small possibility of a glow very low on the northern horizon. Instead we got the full-blown show. Nearly every form of aurora put in an appearance from multi-layered arcs spanning the northern sky to glowing red patches, crisp green rays and the bizarre flaming aurora. “Flames” look like waves or ripples of light rapidly fluttering from the bottom to the top of an auroral display. Absolutely unearthly in appearance and yet only 100 miles away.
VLF Auroral Chorus by Mark Dennison
I even broke out a hand-held VLF (very low frequency) radio and listened to the faint but crazy cosmic sounds of electrons diving through Earth’s magnetosphere. When my electron-jazzed brain finally hit the wall at 4 a.m., flames of moderately bright aurora still rippled across the north.
Just when you thought it was over, the whole northern sky burst into rays around 1 a.m. CDT this morning. The human eye is much more sensitive to green light than red, one of the reasons why the aurora rarely appears red except in time exposures made with a camera. Credit: Bob KingAround 2 o’clock, flames pulsed from bottom to top in patchy aurora. It’s very difficult to photograph, but here it is anyway! Credit: Bob King
So what about tonight? Just like last night, there’s only a 5% chance of a minor storm. Take a look anyway – nature always has a surprise or two up her sleeve.
Aurora and starry skies at Mount Kirkjufell, Iceland on April 2, 2014. Credit and copyright: Nanut Bovorn.
Wow! Mount Kirkjufell is a well-known and often-photographed landmark, and there are many who say it is the most beautiful mountain in Iceland. Photographer Nanut Bovorn captured Kirkjufell in all its glory on April 2, 2014, surrounded by starry skies and an incredible aurora. Simply stunning.
Below is another image taken the same night which also shows the beautiful landscape that surrounds Kirkjufell, with a stream and waterfalls, all under the beautiful nights skies in Iceland.
Mount Kirkjufell sits on a little peninsula and is 463 meters high.
Mount Kirkjufell in Iceland surrounded by the aurora on April 2, 2014. Credit and copyright: Nanut Bovorn.
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Aurora Borealis coronal display near Fairbanks Alaska, on March 25, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.
For the past several years, astrophotographer John Chumack has lead a tour to Alaska on how to photograph the northern lights and the night sky, and this year was a great success. “We experienced perfect weather this year: 10 clear nights in a row, with an aurora display every night,” John said via email. Last week, we featured some of images from this year’s trip, but here are some additional images that are really amazing, plus John has put together a stunning timelapse from images he took on March 26, see below:
Aurora Borealis coronal display near Fairbanks Alaska, on March 25, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.Another image of the Aurora Borealis coronal display near Fairbanks Alaska, on March 25, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.John Chumack stand under the Aurora Borealis near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 25, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.
Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.
Every year, our friend and astrophotographer extraordinaire John Chumack co-leads a tour to Alaska on how to photograph the northern lights and the night sky, and this year they hit paydirt. “Absolutely amazing aurora about 30 minutes outside Fairbanks, Alaska!!!!” John wrote via email. “I took over 450 photos of it, I watched it dance and sway from 9:30pm until 4:00am!!! It got so bright at times it turn the snow green, to red to purple too!”
Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.
Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.
UPDATE: John sent us an update and a couple of additional aurora photos from subsequent nights in Alaska. He said he has done quite a bit of research over the years, and Fairbanks has the highest number of clear nights late March — when he annually hosts the aurora tour. “Also the Earth’s Magnetic Field is weaker near equinox, so even if you don’t get flares, the solar wind is enough to spark aurora displays,” John said via email. “We are on our 4th consecutive clear nights with great Aurora displays. Only a KP-2 index Level is need to see them here.”
A good enticement to check out his tour for 2015!
Aurora on March 24, 2014 near Fairbanks, Alaska. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.A group of attendees at John Chumack’s Aurora Borealis tour watch the aurora together near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 24, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack
On March 3, 2014 the The Ground-to-Rocket Electrodynamics – Electron Correlative Experiment (GREECE) sounding rocket launched straight into an aurora from the Poker Flat Research Range in Poker Flat, Alaska. Credit: NASA
If you’ve ever wondered what makes the aurora take on the amazing forms it does you’ve got company. Marilia Samara and the crew of aurora researchers at Alaska’s Poker Flat Range head up the NASA-funded Ground-to-Rocket Electrodynamics-Electrons Correlative Experiment, or GREECE. Their mission is to understand what causes the swirls seen in very active auroras.
Robert Michell, who built some of the instruments on the sounding rocket, and Marilia Samara, the principal investigator for the GREECE project. Credit: NASA
“Our overarching goal is to study the transfer of energy from the sun to Earth,” said Samara, a space scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, or SwRI, in San Antonio, Texas. “We target a particular manifestation of that connection – the aurora.”
Here’s what we know. Electrons and protons from the sun come charging into Earth’s magnetic domain called the magnetosphere and strike and energize molecules of oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere between 60 and 200 miles overhead. The molecules release that extra energy as the greens, reds and purples of the northern lights.
Earth has a magnetic field much like an ordinary refrigerator magnet but shaped by charged particles flowing from the sun called the solar wind. When those particles travel down the planet’s magnetic field lines and excite atmospheric gases, they create the familiar parallel rays seen in auroras. Credit: Greg Shirah and Tom Bridgman, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio (left); Bob King (right)
And those picket-fence, parallel rays that can suddenly spring from a quiet arc are created by billions of electrons spiraling down individual magnetic field lines, crashing into atoms and molecules as they go. Because the lines of magnetic force are closely bunched, as shown in the illustration above, we see side-by-side, tightly spaced rays.
What we less about is how the twists, swirls and eddies form.
Wave clouds forming over Mount Duval, Australia from a Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability. Credit: GRAHAMUK / English language Wikipedia
Scientists suspect the swirls may take shape as a result of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities or Alfven waves. The first occurs when two fluids or gases moving at different rates of speed flow by one another. In a familiar example, wind blowing over water creates ripples that are amplified into curling, white-topped waves.
Alfven waves are created when flows of electrified particles from the sun (plasma) interact with Earth’s magnetic field. To study the structures, sounding or research rockets are launched directly into an active display of northern lights to gather electrical and magnetic measurements. At the same time, cameras on the ground record the dance of rays and arcs above. Samilla and her team at GREECE then compare the aurora’s shifting shapes with real-time data gathered during the rocket’s 600 seconds of flight.
Still and video cameras on the ground simultaneously image the aurora as the instrument-laded rocket flies into the aurora to gather data. Credit: Marilia Samara / Robert Michell / SwRI
“Auroral curls are visible from the ground with high-resolution imaging,” said Samara. “And we can infer from those observations what’s happening farther out. But to truly understand the physics we need to take measurements in the aurora itself.”
Poker Flat rocket launch – Jason Ahrns
And that’s exactly what the team did this past Monday morning March 3. Conditions looked good from Poker Flat the previous evening with a flurry of red and green arcs after sunset. At about 2:10 a.m. Alaska time, after careful monitoring of activity, the order was given to launch.
“It was a wonderful auroral event,” said Kathe Rich, Poker Flat Range manager. “We got good data throughout the flight, and all the instruments worked.”
Time exposure showing the trail of the rocket after it was launched into the aurora over Poker Flat early Monday morning March 3, 2014. Credit: Jason Ahrns
The rocket soared to an altitude of 220 miles (354 km) and recorded data as the video and still cameras whirred on the ground during the 10 minute 15 second long flight.
There must be a bunch of happy scientists at the Range this week. They have their work cut out for them; those few minutes of data collecting will mean years of work to track down the cause of the beautiful curlicues that make our hearts leap at the sight.
Happy researchers at the Poker Flat Research Range. Credit: Lex Wingfield / NASA
Poker Flat Research Range, the world’s only scientific rocket launching facility owned by a university, is located about 30 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska and is operated by the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute under contract with NASA. Most of the research there involves the aurora with sounding rocket launches done about once a year. While waiting for the right moment to launch, members of the team exercise their poetic side by writing and sharing haikus about their beloved aurora. Here’s a sampling, and there are more HERE.
Dim, wide green madness Electromagnetic ghost Surrender your soul – EM
Hey elusive arc Zenith is over there, dude It’s about damn time -EM
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh So ready to launch! -JC
While the cause of auroras is understood, what causes the swirl shapes is an open question. University of Alaska researchers at Poker Flat hope to find an answer. Aurora photographed on Dec. 15, 2012 from Tromso, Norway. Credit: Ole Salomonsen
A gorgeous image of the Aurora Borealis seen near Donegal, Ireland on Feb. 27, 2014. Credit and copyright: Rita Wilson Photography.
Our Twitter feeds just exploded with pictures of an auroral outburst in the UK, Scandinavia, Iceland and even from the International Space Station! Thanks to the X4.9 class solar flare on on Feb. 25, the resulting CME hit Earth’s magnetic field today and triggered geomagnetic storms. Take a look at some of the images pouring in, featuring dancing curtains of reds, greens, purples and pinks:
‘This is how a CME impact looks like,” tweeted Göran Strand from Östersund, Sweden. “Lot’s of aurora tonight.”The aurora seen over Scotland on Feb. 27, 2014. Credit and copyright: Euan McIntosh.
Red curtains of aurora. ‘I’m amazed, blown away, never seen aurora before EVER,’ said astrophotographer Wendy Clark. ‘Just incredible, stood for ages watching it develop.’This view of the aurora from Chobham, Surrey in the UK on Feb. 27, 2014. Credit and copyright: Tom Chitson.
This timelapse shows the aurora display over Swordale, Isle of Lewis, Scotland on Feb. 27, 2014:
An aurora rising from the east above the Science Operations Center at Poker Flat. Aurora seen in Alaska on Feb. 28, 2014. The bubble in the lower right is a dome housing a scientific camera which happens to be in just the right spot to appear as if it’s blowing the aurora out. Credit and copyright: Jason Arhns.Northern lights from Carmyllie, Angus, Scotland on Feb. 27/28, 2014. Credit and copyright: Mick Walton.Aurora reflects on water, as seen on February 20, 2014 near Bremnes, Troms Fylke, Norway. Credit and copyright: Ronny Årbekk.
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The aurora of February 3-4, 2014 seen from inside a plexiglass aurora dome in Churchill, Manitoba at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. Credit and copyright: Alan Dyer.
There are not many places where you can be indoors and have a spectacular view of the Aurora Borealis, but the Churchill Northern Studies Centre in Canada is one. This incredible shot of the the aurora was taken from inside a plexiglass dome created specifically for being able to watch the sky from indoors. Astrophotographer Alan Dyer described it as “a warm way to watch the aurora.”
This view is a 30-second exposure looking up through the dome. Below you can see how the aurora looked from outsdoors, which is stunning as well.
The aurora of February 3-4, 2014 as seen from outdoors in Churchill, Manitoba at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, looking west to Orion and Taurus. Credit and copyright: Alan Dyer.
The Churchill Northern Studies Centre non-profit research and education facility located 23 km east of the town of Churchill, Manitoba that supports sub-arctic scientific researchers working on “a diverse range of topics of interest to northern science,” in addition to being an educational resource center for schools.
Thanks to Alan for sharing his images from his aurora experience at the Centre, and you can see more on Alan’s Flickr page or his website.
Sunspot region 1967 is so big it easily popped into view through a "cloud filter" Sunday afternoon Feb. 2. The group is visible with the naked eye properly shielded by a safe solar filter. Details: 350mm lens at f/11, ISO 200 and 1/2000". Credit: Bob King
What a crazy sunspot cycle. Weeks go by with only a few tiny spots freckling the sun, then all at once a monster group big enough to swallow 10 Earths rounds the eastern limb and we’re back in business. I’m happy to report we’ve got another behemoth snapping and crackling with M-class (moderately strong) flares – Active Region 1967, a hunk-a-hunk of burnin’ funk that rounded the solar limb a week ago.
NOAA weather forecasters predict an 80% chance of continued M-flares and a 50% chance over the next 3 days for considerably more powerful X-class flares. This sunspot group has a delta classification magnetic field, the Facebook equivalent of “It’s complicated”.
Sunspots are made of a dark umbra and lighter penumbra. Very tiny spots with no penumbrae are called pores. A close up of the sun’s photosphere shows a finely granulated texture. Granules are cells of hot gas about the size of Texas that rise from below, cool and sink. Each lasts from 8 to 20 minutes. Credit: NASA
Sunspots have two parts: a dark core (or cores) called an umbra surrounded by a paler skirt of magnetic energy, the penumbra. They can look impressive like this one, but it’s hard to call a sunspot a “thing”. It’s really more of a locale on the sun’s bright white photosphere where bundles of powerful magnetic energy bob up from below the surface and insulate a region of the sun’s fiery hydrogen gas from the rest of the flaming globe.
We’re talking insulate as in staying cool. While the photosphere cooks at around 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit, sunspots are some 3,000 degrees cooler. That’s why they appear dark to the eye. If you could rip them away from the sun and see them alone against the sky, they’d be too bright to look at safely.
Close up of AR 1967 photographed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory at 8:45 p.m. CST Feb. 4, 2014. Credit: NASA
A delta-class spot group has umbrae of both polarities, north and south, corralled within the penumbra. Like bringing opposite poles of a two magnets so close they snap together, something similar can happen inside delta-class groups. Only instead of a snap, a titanic thermonuclear explosion called a flare goes kaboom.The biggest flares release the equivalent of a billion hydrogen bombs.
The huge sunspot group 1967 straddles the center of the solar disk on Feb. 3, 2014. The smaller group, AR 1968, lies to its north. Through a filtered telescope, AR 1967 is packed with fascinating details. Photo made with a 6-inch reflector, Baader solar filter, 1/2000 exposure, ISO 400. Credit: John Chumack
We thank our lucky stars for Earth’s iron heart, which generates our protective magnetic shield, and the 93 million miles that separate us from the sun. AR 1967 has paraded right in front of our noses as it rotated with the sun. Yesterday it squarely faced the Earth – a good thing when it comes to the particle blasts that fire up the northern lights. Let’s hope it showers us with a magnetic goodness in the coming days. I really miss seeing the aurora. You too? NOAA space weather forecasters are calling for a 25% chance of auroras in Arctic latitudes overnight Feb. 4-5. We at mid-latitudes will try to be patient.
A fishing boat sits in a fjord in Norway surrounded by auroras. Credit and copyright: Frank Olsen.
As compensation for the long, dark, cold winters near the Arctic Circle, residents sometimes get views like this. “We had some auroras on January 23rd, but with no movement,” said astrophotographer Frank Olsen from Blokken, Norway. “The small fishing boat was moored just off the beach, and surrounded by green lights, it was pretty nice.”
This is not a stacked photo, but a 13 second exposure. “Quite tricky to get the boat to lay still for 13 seconds!” Frank said.
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It’s actually remarkably beautiful, and well worth two minutes of your time.*
Assembled from actual photographs taken by astronauts aboard the Space Station, many of them by Don Pettit during Expedition 31 (Don took a lot of photos) this timelapse “The World Outside My Window” by David Peterson ramps up the artistic value by featuring super-duper high definition, smoothed frame transitions and a musical score by “Two Steps From Hell.” (Don’t worry, that sounds scarier than it is.) Even if you’ve seen some of these clips before, they’re worth another go.
After all, there’s no good reason not to be reminded of how beautiful our planet is from space. Enjoy!
*It’s actually two minutes and twenty-eight seconds but I don’t think you’ll mind.
