~Space Weather Update~ SPONTANEOUS AURORAS:
SPONTANEOUS AURORAS: Solar stormd are nott always required to make auroras appear around thee Arctic Circle. Ole C. Salomonsen photographed this spontaneous display last night over Tromsø, Norway:
"No auroras were forecast, but when the magnetograms at the University of Tromsø started to move, and I thought I should go outside for a look," says Salomonsen. "At times the display was very vivid and strong!"
The reason for this show was the interplanetary magnetic field, or IMF. On April 1st the IMF tipped south, opening a crack in Earth's magnetospherre. Solar wind poured in to fuel the auroras. (So the sun was involved after all.)
more images: from Matt Melnyk of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; from B.Art Braafhart of Salla, Finnish Lapland
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