The sun sends more than heat and light to Earth. It sends energy and charged particles known as the solar wind. Sometimes, that solar wind becomes a storm.
(Photo | AP)
The sun's outer atmosphere occasionally “burps” out huge bursts of energy called coronal mass ejections. They produce solar storms, also known as geomagnetic storms.
(Photo | AP)
The Earth's magnetic field shields us from much of it, but particles can travel down the magnetic field lines along the north and south poles and into Earth’s atmosphere.
(Photo | AP)
When the particles interact with the gases in our atmosphere, they can produce light, like blue and purple from nitrogen, green and red from oxygen.
(Photo | AP)
This storm generated a particularly vibrant display when it hit because the orientation of the storm’s magnetism lined up well with the Earth’s.