![]() ![]() Intense magnetic storms can even disable communication satellites. They can disrupt radio and radar signals. Magnetic storms and active auroras can sometimes interfere with communications. Auroras have been visible as far south as the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Magnetic storms can lead to auroras being seen in the midlatitudes during the time around the spring and autumnal equinoxes. These regular fluctuations are known as magnetic storms. ![]() Some increased activity in the solar wind happens during every equinox. Bright, consistent auroras are most visible during the height of sunspot activity. Sunspot activity is tracked over an 11-year cycle. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are sudden, extra bursts of energy in the solar wind. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are associated with sunspots. Sunspots are the coldest part of the sun and appear as dark blobs on its white-hot surface. Solar weather is often measured in sunspots. The solar wind is usually fairly constant, but solar weather-the heating and cooling of different parts of the sun-can change daily. The most active auroras happen when the solar wind is the strongest. Most auroras happen about 97-1,000 kilometers (60-620 miles) above Earth’s surface. The energy released during these collisions causes a colorful glowing halo around the poles-an aurora. In the ionosphere, the ions of the solar wind collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen from Earth’s atmosphere. They lie about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from the geographic poles, but are slowly moving. The geomagnetic poles mark the tilted axis of Earth’s magnetic field. These areas, in a region of the atmosphere called the ionosphere, are centered around Earth’s geomagnetic poles. Although most of the solar wind is blocked by the magnetosphere, some of the ions become briefly trapped in ring-shaped holding areas around the planet. Most of the solar wind is blocked by the magnetosphere, and the ions, forced around the planet, continue to travel farther into the solar system. Without this magnetic field protecting the planet, the solar wind would blow away Earth’s fragile atmosphere, preventing all life. As solar wind approaches Earth, it meets Earth’s magnetic field. The ions, which continuously stream from the sun’s surface, are called the solar wind. The sun is a ball of superhot gases made of electrically charged particles called ions. Auroras and the Solar Wind The activity that creates auroras begins on the sun. In the south, it is called aurora australis, or southern lights. ![]() In the north, the display is called aurora borealis, or northern lights. Auroras are visible almost every night near the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, which are about 66.5 degrees north and south of the Equator. Auroras are only visible at night, and usually only appear in lower polar regions. Blue, red, yellow, green, and orange lights shift gently and change shape like softly blowing curtains. An aurora is a natural light display that shimmers in the sky. ![]()
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