Officials Confirm Several Geomagnetic Storms Are Hitting Earth This Week

The Sun is continuing its rowdy behavior, with flares and coronal mass ejections almost every day since mid-January. That means the inevitable has happened: some of those eruptions have blasted in the general direction of Earth, which means we’re in for some solar storms.   The Space Weather Prediction Center of the US National Oceanic … Read more

How a Magnetic ‘Tug-of-War’ With Io’s Volcanic Eruptions Creates Jupiter’s Auroras

Jupiter’s auroras – the lights that dance around its poles – are the most distinct in our solar system and over a thousand times brighter than Earth’s aurora. Now, a new study confirms that these otherworldly polar lights come from a unique source: space lava.   Jupiter‘s moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar … Read more

Do Auroras Make Sounds We Can Hear? The True Answer Is Surprisingly Complicated

It’s a question that has puzzled observers for centuries: do the fantastic green and crimson light displays of the aurora borealis produce any discernible sound? Conjured by the interaction of solar particles with gas molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, the aurora generally occurs near Earth’s poles, where the magnetic field is strongest. Reports of the aurora … Read more

Comet Leonard shines amid aurora and meteor shower in stunning footage by Chinese spacecraft

A small space telescope launched by a Chinese space resources company captured an epic shot of the brightest comet of the year on the backdrop of an aurora and passing meteors. Yangwang 1, a small satellite belonging to Chinese space resources company Origin Space, took the image while Comet Leonard was making its closest approach … Read more

Where to see the northern lights: 2022 aurora borealis guide

Photos don’t do the northern lights justice. To fully appreciate the glory and grandeur of this celestial display, which is also known as the aurora borealis, you have to settle beneath the ever-changing lights and watch them curve and curl, slither and flicker. Here’s how to see the northern lights.  Amazing auroras: Stunning northern lights photos The first … Read more