The "bursting beauty" aurora comes from a "strong geomagnetic storm".
On the evening of December 1, the aurora was seen in many places, and China may usher in the best period of observation in 2024.
The aurora exploded, and the Mohe River was so beautiful that it exploded!"On the evening of December 1, the earth once again attracted a strong geomagnetic storm, and the gorgeous aurora could be seen in Mohe, many places in Inner Mongolia and even Beijing. Many astronomy enthusiasts were extremely excited and took pictures of this rare moment. This is also another strong geomagnetic storm ushered in by the earth after strong geomagnetic storms occurred in many places in high latitudes around the world at the beginning of the year. What exactly is a geomagnetic storm and how will it affect our lives?The reporter interviewed Chen Pengfei, a Changjiang scholar and professor of the School of Astronomy and Space Science of Nanjing University.
Yangtze Evening News Purple Cow News reporter Yang Tianzi.
The sun scored a hat-trick to send the aurora to the skies over Beijing.
Aurora is a brilliant and colorful plasma phenomenon. The Earth's aurora is formed by the sun's stream of charged particles entering the Earth's magnetic field, accelerating and violently impacting thin gas molecules at high altitude. Due to the geomagnetic field, auroras generally appear over high latitudes near the North and South Poles.
The production of auroras is related to the violent eruption of the sun. Chen Pengfei said that after a violent eruption occurs on the sun, billions of tons of matter will be thrown out, moving interplanetarily at a speed of hundreds or even thousands of kilometers per second, once it hits the earth, interacts with the earth's magnetic field, and the charged particles bombard the atmosphere above our heads along the magnetic field lines, and there is aurora. Even if there is no solar eruption, if the sun releases a high-speed solar wind, auroras will appear on Earth, but they are relatively weaker.
The reason why the aurora appeared on the night of December 1 was that the sun "took off" at least "three sweaters". Three coronal mass ejections erupted one after another, and you chased after me, rushing towards the earth in a group. "In general, the aurora occurs near high latitudes in the north and south poles. But the more intense the Sun's eruption, the more charged particles can break through and reach lower latitudes. Chen Pengfei told reporters that the aurora over Beijing gathered the power of three solar eruptions, and high-energy electrons reached the sky several hundred kilometers away from China's northern border, so that they could also be seen in Beijing.
China may usher in the best period of aurora observation.
Chen Pengfei told reporters that high-speed solar winds and solar eruptions often occur, but the strength is different. This also leads to the frequent occurrence of auroras, and in a relatively calm state, the number of particles entering the atmosphere along the magnetic field lines is relatively small, and the light it excites is weaker, which may be difficult for the human eye to observe. The human eye must see the aurora with the naked eye when the solar wind or solar eruption is strong, because at that time there are more particles entering the atmosphere, and humans can see very dynamic aurora dancing on the ground.
Compared with China, the United States, which has a similar geographical latitude, can see the aurora more frequently, what is the reason for this?Experts explain that the earth's magnetic field distribution is very similar to putting a bar magnet inside the earth, but the north and south poles of the magnet do not coincide with the earth's axis of rotation, and the part close to the northern hemisphere has a large offset to the western hemisphere, and there is an angle of about 12 degrees between the earth's magnetic axis and the axis of rotation, which leads to the relatively high geomagnetic latitude of the United States, so the aurora can be seen in the United States and even as low as Florida.
Professor Chen Pengfei introduced that the 25th solar week we are currently in started at the end of 2019 and was originally expected to reach its peak in 2025. However, recent studies suggest that the peak of solar activity could be brought forward to 2024. As the number of sunspots increases, we will be able to observe more auroras.
Explanation of why most of the aurora seen in China are red.
Most of the aurora is concentrated 90-400 kilometers above Earth. Among them, above 300 km, the aurora is mainly light red, 200-300 km is mainly dark red, 100-200 km is mainly green, and below 100 km is blue, purple or a mixture of dark red. Why are most of the aurora borealis seen in China red, while in the Arctic Circle they are green?This is mainly due to the fact that the surface of the earth has a certain curvature, so that the earth itself will block some distant objects. If the observation point is too far away from the aurora, you will only see the red aurora at a higher altitude.
Does the aurora affect communication and navigation?
Professor Chen Pengfei introduced that the aurora often has a negative impact on the earth's communication, navigation and the operation of artificial satellites. "Ionospheric disturbances caused by geomagnetic storms can affect the radio waves propagating in navigation, causing disturbance and even disruption. "Scientists and technologists have defended themselves by temporarily shutting down the satellite, or by putting away the satellite's solar panels to reduce the area of impact.
With such intense solar activity, do ordinary people need to strengthen sun protection when they go out?Experts say that with the increase in solar activity and the increase in the number of geomagnetic storms, ultraviolet rays will only be relatively enhanced.
Trivia. There is also a "weather forecast" in space?
Space weather forecasting to find out.
China Meteorological Administration issued a geomagnetic storm warning Yesterday, it was once on the top of the hot search list, why can the Meteorological Bureau predict geomagnetic storms?And what is space weather forecasting?
Space weather occurs in the space between the Sun and more than 30 kilometers above the ground, and refers to the conditions or states in the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere on the Sun that can affect the normal operation and reliability of space-based and ground-based technological systems and endanger human health and life. According to the intensity of solar activity, it can be divided into two types: calm and burst. There is the "solar wind" made of plasma, and the "space rain" made of countless high-energy particles. Just like the stormy rain and snow that happens on Earth, the weather in space can sometimes be "breezy" and sometimes "stormy". During low solar years, space weather is calmer. In high solar years, solar storms occur frequently, such as flares, coronal mass ejections, and solar eruptions.
Space weather may seem distant or irrelevant, but it is everywhere. For example, when a solar storm erupts, ships, cars, and even smartphones can be interfered with, causing problems such as inaccurate positioning.
The role of space weather forecasting is to forecast space weather events and their impacts. At present, based on observational data and scientific theories, methods such as the probability of flare occurrence based on the physical parameters of the solar surface and the calculation of solar wind parameters through numerical models are constantly developing, and space weather forecasting has begun to enter the numerical era.
There are many types of space weather forecasting products, including **, weekly, monthly, and annual reports. When important space weather events such as large flares and geomagnetic storms occur, products such as space weather reports will also be released.
Up-to-date forecasts. A small to moderate magnetic storm may occur on the 4th.
According to the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center of the China Meteorological Administration, this is the seventh time this year that a geomagnetic storm has occurred after February 27, March, April and September 19. According to the latest monitoring and forecast of the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center of the China Meteorological Administration, a small to moderate magnetic storm may occur on the 4th due to the combined influence of the high-speed solar wind in the solar coronal cave and the CME on December 1.
Yangtze Evening News Purple Cow News reporter Yu Dandan.
Beijing photographed the aurora for the first time The reporter talks to the photographer.
At around 7:30 p.m. on the 1st, a photographer in Beijing used his camera in Huairou to record the scene of the red aurora appearing in the sky, which may also be the first time that the aurora has been observed and photographed in Beijing.
The photographer, Pu Shi, told reporters that the forecast maximum for December 1 was around 2 p.m. Beijing time. "It happened to be the weekend, so after work, I went to the northernmost part of Beijing, found a place with low light pollution, and shot to the north. "The sunset in Beijing was around 6:30, and just after 7 o'clock, I saw a red thing spreading rapidly in the distance from the camera monitor," Pu Shi said. Then, after about half an hour, the eye could see that the sky was growing brighter, almost as bright as the light from the surrounding villages. At this time, what you see on the camera's monitor is already a red light that occupies 1 3 of the screen, which is very large. ”
Urashi explained that because the light of the aurora belongs to the infrared band, it is particularly sensitive to the camera's image sensor, so it is the first to appear on the camera screen. "For Beijing, it is actually very rare for such a large aurora to be seen, and this is the first time I know that the aurora has been seen and photographed in the history of Beijing. He said: "Because of the low latitude of Beijing, the aurora probably spread from the north magnetic pole, and I estimate that the observed aurora is now at least a few thousand kilometers away from Beijing." When I photographed it, I was shocked and incredible, and then I posted it in the sky herd, and everyone was sighing and excited. ”
Yangtze Evening News Purple Cow News reporter Liu Liu.
*: Yangtze Evening News).