NPR: Photos -- See the Northern Lights from Rare Solar StormThis is one of the best image collections we've found that shows the epic aurora borealis events in May, 2024 from a broad variety of locations. You'll find pictures of the auroras from Maine, California, Oregon, Germany, southern England, North Carolina, Ukraine, Missouri, Slovakia, and more. Teachers: Consider giving your students a challenge. Go to the Observation Tools tab above, click on the SuperMAG website, then click on "Line Plots". Ask them to locate data from observatories in locations below the Arctic circle and view the graphs of Magnetic Perturbation vs. Time. This could help them understand the magnitude of this geostorm system.
Spectacular auroras caused by head-on blows to Earth’s magnetic field could damage critical infrastructureThis abbreviated news story highlights the "greatly expanded" potential dangers of severe solar storms (such as the epic geostorms in May 2024) to modern technologies dependent on electricity. This resource is extracted from a 2024 article published in the Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science journal. You can access the full article, which used statistical models to investigate how the "shock impact angle" of a geomagnetic storm influences its potential to wreak havoc on Earth-based electronics.
NASA Goddard: Spacecraft Discovers New Magnetic Process in Turbulent SpaceNASA's MMS (Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft) encountered a surprising phenomenon, reported in a 2018 article in Nature. Magnetic reconnection occurs when crossed magnetic field lines "snap", slinging nearby particles away at high speeds. Reconnection events are associated with allowing ionized particles to leak into Earth's poles, causing solar storms and auroras. But in 2018, scientists uncovered a new region where reconnection can occur -- in turbulent plasma in the magnetosheath (boundary between the magnetosphere and the solar wind). This ultra-chaotic region in near-Earth space also undergoes magnetic reconnection, as confirmed by the MMS spacecraft. So why is this news? Reconnection events observed in prior years placed the phenomenon occurring in the magnetotail region of Earth's magnetic field and covering a massive range of tens of thousands of miles. The newly-observed process featured in this video spans only a couple of miles within turbulent plasma in a region far from the magnetotail.
National Institutes of Natural Sciences: First full 2D spectral image of aurora borealis from a hyperspectral cameraIn August, 2024, The NINS Institutes in Japan released the first "full 2D" spectral image of light emission from plasma in a magnetic field. Using the Large Helical Device (LHD), the researchers developed a highly sensitive system for measuring auroras from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. The system acquired hyperspectral images of auroras (i.e., 2D images broken down by wavelength). The discovery: when electrons are slow, they emit strong red light at high altitudes. When electrons are fast, they penetrade to lower altitudes and emit strong green or purple light. Note: This article contains a link to the full free-access journal article with accompanying high-resolution images.
Space Observatory-NASA: Historic Geomagnetic Storm DazzlesPlanet Earth was treated to one of the most spectacular auroral displays imaginable in May, 2024, as he strongest geomagnetic storm in over two decades dazzled scientists and sky-watchers alike in the spectacle of a lifetime. Remarkable auroras could be seen in places where they usually never occur, such as southern Ohio, Detroit, Chicago, Wales, and Montana. This page explains why it happened and provides links to citizen scientist photos of the event. But if your students think it's all roses & lollipops, check out the link directly below on the potential dangers of these beautiful events.