Solar storm

Solar flare sets off auroras around the Arctic Circle

Web edition : Monday, January 30th, 2012

Earth?s nearest star erupted late on January 22, belching out a solar flare. At the same time the sun launched a blast of hot gas known as a coronal mass ejection toward Earth.

A day later, when the particles slammed into the atmosphere, they set off auroras around the Arctic Circle. Fast-moving protons that came along for the ride also triggered a solar radiation storm, the biggest seen since the ?Halloween storms? of October 2003.

Scientists expect such powerful solar blasts to become more common as the sun moves toward a predicted peak of activity in 2013.

Found in: Astronomy and Atom & Cosmos

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/338026/title/Solar_storm

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