This workweek has been a shudder one for skywatchers , as beautiful aurorae were seeable in locating around the world . Also known as the Northern Lights , this phenomenon fall out when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth ’s atmosphere , and it is typically only seen in far northern regions near to the Arctic . But because of the unusually high floor of activity from the sunshine , aurorae were visible much further to the south than is common , and many people were able to rupture stunning image .
Beloved science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson snapped an figure of speech from Long Island in New York :
From Long Island , NY , the Aurora this eventide .
because of charged solar particles get at Earth from yesterday's solar flair . They slam into atmospheric molecules of Oxygen and Nitrogen , supply them a - radiance . Here , Red and Green are seeable , with the Big Dipper looking on.pic.twitter.com/wgzCIiJUHu
& mdash ; Neil deGrasse Tyson ( @neiltyson)October 11 , 2024
And the dawn were also seeable across much of the U.K. , with both the UK Met Office and the Royal Astronomy Society sharing picture :
The aurora has been visible across many parts of the UK this even
Here are some photos taken by our meteorologist situated across the countrypic.twitter.com/pTvGTuRqWK
& mdash ; Met Office ( @metoffice)October 10 , 2024
Did you see the prominent Northern Lights last night ? Here are some beautiful#auroraimages from across the UK …
And a reminder of why they have put on such a show and been seen much further south this year : https://t.co / a9RKHQMdmk#northernlightspic.twitter.com / xjXKXb7bWk
& mdash ; Royal Astronomical Society ( @RoyalAstroSoc)October 11 , 2024
The view was also caught earlier this week from space , as NASA cosmonaut Matthew Dominickshared a photo he tookfrom the International Space Station , and many more trope from skywatchers around the world are available atspace.com . Aurorae photograph particularly well using a simple smartphone television camera so many mass were able-bodied to capture impressive images without postulate any specialist equipment for astrophotography .
The grounds that the view have been so impressive is the activity of the sunlight . The sun goes through an 11 - twelvemonth cycle of activity , and it is currently embark its most active period , call the solar maximum . The bike is make by the sunspots that exist on the sun ’s surface , which are cooler and darker regions that are created by the sun ’s magnetic theater . When more of these sunspot are face Earth , the solar bodily process decreases . When fewer of these sunspots are present , as is the case now , the sun ’s activity increase . It is more likely to give off bursts like solar flare and Coronal Mass Ejections ( CMEs ) .
This week has seen four strong solar flares erupt from the sun , when powerful flare-up of zip are beam out that can step in with satellites and communications technology when they arrive at Earth , in a phenomenon called space conditions .
But while these solar flares can cause problems for engineering science located in space , the increase solar activeness also increases the telephone number of sunrise that can be seen from Earth .
