Powerful Auroras

NORTHERN OUTBURST: This weekend in Ersfjord, Norway, Bjorn Jorgensen observed "an outburst of auroras so powerful, it turned the ground green. The display lasted only a few minutes," but that was enough for an unforgettable snapshot:



Sudden outbursts like this are a mystery of space science. Oh, researchers know what causes auroras: Charged particles from space rain down on Earth's upper atmosphere causing the air to glow where they hit. But (here is the mystery) there was no sharp gust of solar wind to account for the outburst Jorgensen witnessed. Where did it come from? Answering this question is the mission of THEMIS, a fleet of five spacecraft launched a year ago by NASA to investigate the origin of auroral "substorms." Each member of the quintet is equipped with sensors to map the complex ebb and flow of particles and fields through Earth's magnetosphere when substorms erupt. The first weekend of March has provided some good data for their investigation.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Amazing.

PS: I caused it :o

WOW LIAM!! Could you cause one over the midwestern U.S.? I'd love to see one in person!

I'm kidding! >_>