Geomagnetic storm responsible for brilliant display of aurora borealis

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Vauxhall Advance

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Southern Alberta Newspapers

Southern Alberta residents were able to witness the colourful and sometimes dynamic aurora borealis this month thanks to a geomagnetic storm.

Locke Spencer, associate professor and Canada research chair in the physics and astronomy department at the University of Lethbridge, explained that what we are able to see is the result of high energy particles that have been ejected from the sun called coronal mass ejections (CME).

“They come in, they hit the Earth, they’re charged particles due to the sun’s ionizing radiation. They don’t travel in a straight line, but they actually then get caught up in the Earth magnetic fields that are deflected towards the magnetic poles,” said Spencer.

He said that as they enter and collide with the atmosphere that energy is imparted into the molecules in our atmosphere.

“What we’re seeing is actually the colours that come from nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere and it’s aligned with the magnetic field, so they’re swirling around and doing whatever they do and that’s when we see them,” said Spencer.

He explained that in essence, the northern lights are the result of the protection the Earth is giving with its magnetic fields blocking those particles ejected by the sun.