So, if scientists notice a spot with high activity, they might get a hint that it could come back around in a few weeks, he said.īut conditions can change by the time the sun makes a full rotation. The sun spins on its axis once every 27 days. Scientists are constantly monitoring the sun using telescopes on Earth and in space in part because space weather can impact radio communications, satellites, power grids and more, Brasher said. If one of these outbursts hits Earth, even in a “glancing blow,” it can disturb our planet’s magnetic field and also cause shimmering auroras. Sometimes, the sun also shoots out huge amounts of plasma in what’s known as a coronal mass ejection, Brasher said. More solar particles can make the northern lights brighter and also push them down toward the equator - giving people farther south a view. It’s during those periods of stronger solar wind activity when we tend to see more auroras, Blazek explained.
“There’s also periods when it’s fairly quiet.” “There are solar storms where you get more particles than usual.
This solar wind is always flowing, but its levels can vary.
They shake off some of that energy in the form of light, creating the colorful displays of greens, blues, pinks and reds. This puts the atoms and molecules in an excited state.
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