A storm doesn’t always have to mean clouds and rain, for some star gazers last night it meant a treat to a clear view of the aurora borealis.
A gap caused by a giant fissure in the earth’s magnetic field last night revealed the northern lights from Canada to as far down as New York state.
The southern hemisphere was also treated to these visual delights as several locations in New Zealand reported seeing the green lights in the skies.
Forecasters had not predicted this huge space weather event.
The amazing view came about as the result of a minor coronal mass ejection (CME). This is a huge release from the sun of plasma drenched with magnetic field lines.
After Earth entered the CME’s wake, strong south-pointing magnetic fields opened a crack in the planet’s magnetosphere causing a geomagnetic storm.
NASA points out, "Immense cracks in our planet’s magnetic field can remain open for hours, allowing the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather."
The northern lights, or aurora borealis, can typically only be viewed when conditions are correct at the right location nearing the north or south hemispheres of the earth.
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