CME hits Earth, sparks Geomagnetic storm! Stunning auroras seen even in Washington | Tech News

CME hits Earth, sparks Geomagnetic storm! Stunning auroras seen even in Washington

A dangerous combination of CME and high-speed solar winds hit Earth just days ago, resulting in sparkling auroras even in areas that have very rarely seen any.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Feb 28 2023, 16:13 IST
Best NASA Astronomy Pictures of the week: Double Galaxy Cluster, Comet ZTF and more
Auroras
1/5 Double Star Cluster (Feb 20) - It is a 100-million-year-old globular star cluster located 160,000 light-years away in the constellation Dorado. What’s unusual about this star cluster is its size and shape is reminiscent of the other ancient star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. However, this double star cluster is not present in our galaxy and belongs in the Large Magellanic Cloud. (NASA/ESA/Hubble/Paul Goudfrooij(STScI))
Auroras
2/5 Comet ZTF (Feb 21) - It is a mesmerizing picture of Comet ZTF streaking across the skies over Yosemite Falls located in the Sierra Nevada region of California. According to NASA, this comet was discovered by astronomers using the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in 2022 in March last year. (NASA/Tara Mostofi)
Auroras
3/5 Rising Solar Activity (Feb 22) - This picture is a snapshot of the rising activity on the surface of the Sun. This image was captured two weeks ago in a single colour of light known as Hydrogen Alpha. Solar prominences can be observed hurling out from the surface while the Sun’s edges are brighter due to increased absorption of relatively cool solar gas. (NASA/Mehmet Ergun)
Auroras
4/5 Spiral Galaxy Arp 78 (Feb 23) - A peculiar spiral galaxy called Arp 78 can be seen in this image. It is an enormous galaxy which spans nearly 200,000 light-years across and exists almost 100 million light-years away in the constellation Aries. Arp 78 is also known as NGC 772. Alongside Arp 78, another faint galaxy can be seen, which is NGC 770.  (NASA/Josep Drudis)
Auroras
5/5 Headphone Nebula Jones-Emberson 1 (Feb 24) - A stellar nebula known as Jones-Emberson 1 also called as the Headphone Nebula owing to its peculiar headphone-like shape. The Headphone Nebula is located about 1600 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Lynx. (NASA/Serge Brunier/Jean-Francois Bax/David Vernet/ C2PU/OCA)
Auroras
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Stunning auroras were captured even in Washington. (Rocky Raybell)

It was recently reported that Earth was in the firing line of both a CME and solar winds. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that this double blow struck the planet yesterday, February 27, resulting in the most intense solar storm of 2023, with solar winds the fastest observed in years. This double blow had a major effect on the planet, albeit a beautiful one.

According to a spaceweather.com report, the strong CME and solar winds resulted in a dangerous G3-class Geomagnetic storm which brought sparkling auroras in areas across the world that have very rarely seen any. The aurora lights were seen in multiple US states including Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Idaho, Montana, New Jersey and North Dakota. At maximum, the lights descended as far south as Colorado.

The report stated, “Earth's magnetic field is reverberating from the impact of a CME on Feb. 26th. Its arrival brought a gust of solar wind blowing faster than 800 km/s (the highest value in years) and triggered a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm.”

The stunning auroras were captured by astrophotographer Rocky Raybell from Keller, Washington. Raybell told spaceweather.com, “The auroras appeared at 7:15 pm PST. They were so bright, I was able to capture the red colors with only a 3-second exposure (ISO 3200).”

The G3-class solar storm event was so strong that aurora lights were seen in the UK, and parts of Europe including Norway and Denmark too.

How are Auroras formed?

The solar particles released during interaction of a solar storm with Earth's magnetic field further interact with the various gases present in our atmosphere and form stunning Auroras.

Cause behind it

This double event is likely an effect of a chain of explosions caused by the sunspot AR3229 igniting multiple solar flares within itself that released huge amounts of solar particles into space. Shockingly, NOAA DSCOVR satellite was not able to see the CME storm strike the Earth due to a grounding fault on February 27.

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First Published Date: 28 Feb, 15:21 IST
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