Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Stunning pictures of colourful aurora from across America as forecasters say FOURTH solar storm is on the way on 24 June 2015

Astronauts at the International Space Station captured incredible images of a rare red aurora caused by the phenomenon

  • It is expected to be visible tonight from Europe and the US/Candian border from 7pm
  • But the storms may affect Earth's electricity supplies and aircraft radios
By Mark Prigg For Dailymail.com
Published: 13:31 EST, 24 June 2015 | Updated: 13:53 EST, 24 June 2015

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3137966/Stunning-pictures-colourful-aurora-America-forecasters-say-FOURTH-solar-storm-way-tonight.html#ixzz3eMEEocyR
The three separate solar storms that combined to smash into Earth's atmosphere caused an incredible spectacle across the globe - and in space.
Stunning pictures have revealed the effect the three storms had, creating a huge Aurora visible across much of North America.
And forecasters say the spectacle will be repeated tonight as a fourth storm arrives.  

Scroll down for video
Photographer Christian Begeman took this shot in South Dakota. The church is found on the Ingalls Homestead just outside of DeSmet, SDt, SD, and he said it was the most intense aurora he'd ever seen.
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Photographer Christian Begeman took this shot in South Dakota. The church is found on the Ingalls Homestead just outside of DeSmet, SDt, SD, and he said it was the most intense aurora he'd ever seen.
The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, begin to flare up with green, yellow and pink hues near the Vedauwoo Recreation Area late Monday night between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming.
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The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, begin to flare up with green, yellow and pink hues near the Vedauwoo Recreation Area late Monday night between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming.

WHAT IS AN AURORA? 

An aurora is a coloured pattern of lights in space that can sometimes be seen in Earth's night skies.   
Auroras are created when charged particles in space interact with Earth's magnetic field, exciting neutrally charged particles in Earth's upper atmosphere. 
Once agitated, these particles glow red, green, purple and other colors depending on the types of elements excited in the atmosphere. 
A red aurora is particularly rare but is expected to be visible to parts of Europe and North America tonight.

'Earth is experiencing an ongoing geomagnetic storm that started on June 22, 2015 due to the arrival of an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, or CME, from a minor flare on June 20, 2015,' said Nasa.

The CME originated at 10:24 p.m. EDT on June 20, 2015. 
'Coronal material exploded from the sun at about 780 miles per second, arriving at Earth at 1:59 p.m. EDT on June 22.'
NOAA rated the resulting geomagnetic storm as G4, or severe. 
A geomagnetic storm happens when the plasma and magnetic fields in a CME interact with Earth’s magnetic field, disturbing the magnetosphere and allowing stored plasma to flow towards the magnetic poles.
The same active region produced two other CMEs in the past few days, which were pushed along by the faster Earth-directed CME from June 20.
As a result of yesterday’s geomagnetic storm, aurora were sighted in several mid-latitude locations, including Virginia, in the United States and in the United Kingdom.
Photographer Christian Begeman says it was 'The most intense aurora I've ever seen' happened in the wee hours of June 23rd, 2015.
' It started with a wall of light a little after midnight between Lake Preston and DeSmet, South Dakota, while the moon was still out. Later the lights even rippled directly overhead and I was able to get a shot with both aurora and the Milky Way rising in the southeast. 
'The church is found on the Ingalls Homestead just outside of DeSmet, SD." 
It is set to carry on this evening. 
'The coronal mass ejection that erupted June 22 in conjunction with the R2 solar flare has been modeled and arrival is expected June 24 at 2300 UT (7 pm EDT). 
This timing bodes well for aurora watchers in North America. 
'As for the expected intensity, SWPC is continuing to analyze the event and will update the forecast when this analysis is complete. 
'Stay tuned here for updates. '
Yesterday US astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted stunning pictures of the aurora from space and described the view as 'spectacular'
. 
Green, yellow and pink hues near the Vedauwoo Recreation Area late Monday night between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyo.
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Green, yellow and pink hues near the Vedauwoo Recreation Area late Monday night between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyo.

The Aurora as seen in Louisa, Virginia on June 23, 2015.
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The Aurora as seen in Louisa, Virginia on June 23, 2015 (left), and in south Dakota (right)
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station were even able to capture rare images of a red aurora on our planet. 
Forecasters say the storm will continue tonight, causing the huge aurora to be visible from the Earth's north. 
It should be seen in much of Europe, as long as there are no clouds, and may even be visible as far south as the Canadian border with the US.
But the phenomenon could cause problems with electricity supplies here.
The US Government's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWCP) said: 'Aurora watchers in North America, especially northern tier states of the US, should stay alert.
  
Two views of the CME on June 20, 2015 from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO. Earth-directed CMEs like this one are often called halo CMEs, because the material shooting off from the sun looks like a ring around the disk of the sun. This halo can be seen more clearly in the right-hand image called a difference image, which is created by subtracting two consecutive frames to see how the image has changed.
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Two views of the CME on June 20, 2015 from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO. Earth-directed CMEs like this one are often called halo CMEs, because the material shooting off from the sun looks like a ring around the disk of the sun. This halo can be seen more clearly in the right-hand image called a difference image, which is created by subtracting two consecutive frames to see how the image has changed.

Photographer Ollie Taylor from Dorset captured a very rare sight last night - Whilst out trying to capture a poppy field under the Milky Way he spotted the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights in the sky. This spectacular stellar display is normally limited to more northern latitudes in the winter months and not seen in Dorset on one of the longest days of the year.
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Photographer Ollie Taylor from Dorset captured a very rare sight last night - Whilst out trying to capture a poppy field under the Milky Way he spotted the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights in the sky. This spectacular stellar display is normally limited to more northern latitudes in the winter months and not seen in Dorset on one of the longest days of the year.
'The geomagnetic storm that began on 22 June has reached G4 (Severe) levels once again as of 0513 UTC (0113 EDT) on 23 June. 
'Solar wind conditions remain highly favourable for continued Strong Geomagnetic storming, with both fast solar wind and strong magnetic fields.' 
'This is the very early stages of an event that will play out over many hours, with SWPC forecasting continuing storm level intensities into tomorrow. 
'In Europe watchers should be looking for the aurora now and there is hope for those over the US tonight.' 
G4 storms are the second most severe on a five-point scale. 
It is the same intensity level reached in March this year during the St. Patrick's Day storm, which supercharged auroras for skywatchers in northern parts of the United States.

US astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted this photograph of a rare red aurora just above Earth's surface Tuesday
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US astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted this photograph of a rare red aurora just above Earth's surface Tuesday
 
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3137966/Stunning-pictures-colourful-aurora-America-forecasters-say-FOURTH-solar-storm-way-tonight.html#ixzz3eMEjXsNG
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