Solar-Storm-Fueled Auroras Make for Awesome Backyard Photography
The sun is waking up. After several quiet years, it bombarded the Earth with two consecutive solar storms this week, which generated many nights of spectacular auroras seen from backyards around the Northern Hemisphere.
A relatively powerful flare burst from the sun’s surface on Jan. 19, throwing off charged particles that reached our planet on Jan. 22. But this was nothing compared to the enormous flare that erupted the next day. The biggest solar flare in six years, this impressive event propelled a gigantic, fast-moving storm that reached Earth on Jan. 24.