Skywatchers in both North America and Europe were treated to a spectacular display of the northern lights on Sunday. These colorful auroras illuminated the night sky and were visible as far south as Greece and Turkey.
This stunning aurora display was a result of a powerful geomagnetic storm that peaked as a strong G3 storm on November 5 at 12:40 pm EST, according to the scale used by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The scale ranges from G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme).
Geomagnetic storms are caused by disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field due to solar material from coronal mass ejections (CME). CMEs involve large ejections of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s atmosphere.
The G3 magnitude geomagnetic storm on Sunday was triggered by not one but two CMEs that impacted Earth on November 4 and November 5, as reported by spaceweather.com. During these storms, high-speed solar particles collide with Earth’s atmosphere, with speeds reaching up to 45 million miles per hour (72 million km/h). Earth’s magnetic field directs these particles toward the polar regions.
As these particles interact with molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, it results in the vibrant and colorful displays that we know as the auroras. Typically, these displays are confined to high latitudes for the northern lights and low latitudes for the southern lights.
Social media was flooded with incredible images of the northern lights from across Canada, the US, and Europe, showcasing the breathtaking beauty of this celestial phenomenon.
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