Auroras are occurring again with increasing frequency. With the Sun being unusually dormant over the past three years, the amount of Sun-induced auroras has also been unusually low. More recently, however, our Sun has become increasingly active and exhibiting a greater abundance of sunspots, flares, and coronal mass ejections. Solar activity like this typically expels charged particles into the Solar System, some of which may trigger Earthly auroras. As this year unfolded, the above timelapse displays of picturesque auroras were captured above Tromso, Norway. Curtains of auroral light, usually green, flow, shimmer and dance as energetic particles fall toward Earth and ionize air molecules high up in the Earth’s atmosphere. With solar maximum still in the future, there may be opportunities to see spectacular aurora personally over the next three years.
And please excuse the craptastic music that this person has chosen for their video. Why do people purposely decide to ruin something they worked so hard on by wrapping it up in such an awful song. I highly recommend turning off the volume when you press play.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/16917950[/vimeo]
Source: APOD
