So it wasn’t quite the light show we’d hoped for, but it was something.
It was expected that a coronal mass ejection (CME) that erupted from the sun would hit Earth and give us the chance of a great northern lights display, but unfortunately, the sun’s particles missed Earth.
However, for those who happened to be outside Saturday night and Sunday night, they got a bit of a nice display.
https://twitter.com/dartanner/status/650903675104133121/photo/1
https://twitter.com/dartanner/status/650959785110605824/photo/1
https://twitter.com/treetanner/status/650920307239194624/photo/1
https://twitter.com/NBStormChaser/status/650827865047584768/photo/1
Even though the CME didn’t co-operate, our magnetic field did, tipping south and allowing the solar wind — along with its usual particles — to interact with it, giving us the northern lights.
The Kp Index, which measures geomagnetic activity rose to a 6 (on a scale of 1 to 10). For most of Canada, if the magnetic field dips south and there is a Kp of about 4 or higher, you can get quite a show (with the exception of southern Ontario where it may be a little more challenging to see).
But on Saturday night, early Sunday, it didn’t matter: the aurora were seen as far south as the northern United States.
https://twitter.com/eljakeo30/status/650619106979266560/photo/1
https://twitter.com/mark_tarello/status/650693306217684993/photo/1
https://twitter.com/mark_tarello/status/650671112548843520/photo/1
And from space, the view of the show was breathtaking.
https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/650655326769938433/photo/1
The chance of solar flares — which are linked with CMEs — is low.
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