![]() Today it is only 1.5 degrees from the blinding sun. SUPERIOR CONJUNCTION OF MERCURY : Are you looking for Mercury? Don't. Within the slipstream, strong magnetic fields can open a crack in Earth's magnetosphere, allowing solar wind to penetrate and paint the sky with light. Helin witnessed the CME's afterglow-the delayed appearance of auroras that sometimes happens when Earth is passing through a CME's wake. "For a moment, the auroras got very bright." "It was a surprisingly nice display," says Helin. Twenty-four hours later, however, the sky filled with auroras: Finnish photographer Matti Helin didn't see anything immediately on March 15th when a CME struck Earth's magnetic field. THE AFTERGLOW OF A CME : Sometimes the second night is best. Even a weak stream of solar wind can penetrate to spark a good display. Researchers call it the " Russell-McPherron effect." At this time of year, cracks form in Earth's magnetic field. That's good news, because auroras love equinoxes. Neutron counts from the University of Oulu's Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory show that cosmic rays reaching Earth are slowly declining-a result of the yin-yang relationship between the solar cycle and cosmic rays.ĪURORAS LOVE EUINOXES : The vernal equinox is only 3 days away. ![]() Credit: SDO/HMIĬosmic Rays Solar Cycle 25 is intensifying, and this is reflected in the number of cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere. A new and apparently large sunspot is emerging at the circled location. ![]()
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