The last solar storm had sparked a strong geomagnetic storm on Earth after it hit the magnetosphere.
Just a few days ago, a potentially disruptive sunspot had transmitted surprising strong solar winds towards Earth at a striking speed of 372 miles a second! According to space experts, this resulted in sparking a moderately strong G2-class geomagnetic storm on the Earth. A geomagnetic storm, a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere, occurs when there is a remarkably efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind in the direction of Earth.
According to the NOAA Space Weather Scale, a severe geomagnetic storm can even cause radio blackouts on Earth while impacting communication and electric grids. This G2-class geomagnetic storm did not cause any damage to infrastructure, it did result in dazzling colourful auroras all across Canada and the UK. The Space Weather Physicist Dr. Tamitha Skov also re-shared several snaps of the mesmerizing aurora views taken by residents.
“And nothing like an August night, drenched in your loving… Lady aurora made a G1 appearance in the skies over central Alberta this morning,” a Twitterati Jeff Adams said while sharing aurora view. While, in a similar event, a user named Alan Dyer shared one of the rare events of the aurora, named “STEVE”, short for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. The SpaceWeather.com report also confirmed that STEVE was visible in Montana and Pennsylvania during the last geomagnetic storm.
“During Monday’s surprise geomagnetic storm, hot ribbons of plasma flowed through Earth’s magnetosphere. Alan Dyer saw one of them near Gleichen, Alberta,” SpaceWeather.com mentioned.
“Over the past few nights, Alberta has seen active Aurora Displays. This photo shows STEVE, A unique Aurora Phenomenon mostly seen around lower attitudes and discovered right here in Alberta! Taken Sunday night around 1:00 am MST,” Dyer tweeted.
This rare event is a recent discovery, which looks like an aurora, but it is not! According to spaceweather.com, the purple glow is caused by a hot temperature of 3000° Celsius. Ribbons of gas flowing through the magnetosphere of Earth at a lightning speed exceeding 6 km/s! It only appears during a few geomagnetic storms, usually alongside a type of green aurora called the picket fence.
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