Beautiful Aura Pics of Earth From Yesterday

[Parsons]

@Meerie No offense, but I dont see anywhere in that article where it says there was a solar flare. It says the solar wind caused the geomagnetic storm, not a solar flare. It mentions a "disturbance" rippling through the electromagnetic field, but not the source. It also states that the IMF turned south when this happened, forming a crack, but it does not explain why this occurred or if this was a normal occurrence. I will have to more closely research the IMF to comment on this further.

Spaceweather.com addressed the apparently unknown cause for the Feb14-15 geomagnetic storm. What I find really fascinating is the anomaly it produced.

AURORA WHIRLPOOL: On Feb. 14-15, Arctic skies erupted with an unexpected display of auroras that veteran observers said was among the best in months. At the height of the event, a US Defense Meteorological Program satellite photographed a whirlpool of Northern Lights over the Bering Sea:




"A number of images from the DMSP F18 satellite captured the dramatic auroral event of the last couple nights," says analyst Paul McCrone, who processed the data at the US Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey, CA.

The reason for the outburst is still not completely clear. It started on Feb. 14th when a magnetic disturbance rippled around the north pole. No CME was obvious in local solar wind data at the time; the disturbance just happened. Once begun, the display was amplified by the actions of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The IMF near Earth tipped south, opening a crack in our planet's magnetic defenses. Solar wind poured in and fueled the auroras.