Aurora are natural displays of coloured light, only visible at night. They are often observed in shades of blue, red, yellow, green and orange – which shift gently and change shape.
Auroras are triggered by activity on the sun which sends charged particles moving across space. These interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, which can lead to geomagnetic storms, which, in turn, can trigger dazzling auroras visible in our night skies.
While Earth’s magnetic field shields us from particles from such storms, they’re known to cause problems for power grids by sending extra electrical current down transmission lines – as happened when a Dunedin transformer was knocked out in 2001.
The “Carrington Event” is the most powerful geomagnetic storm in recent times, occurring in 1859. If it occurred today, it would have caused widespread damage to gas and electricity networks, and railway signals.
Photo / George Heard
The flare comes as a team of Kiwi scientists have been working with the energy sector on a $15m project aimed at preparing for a much larger event than May’s – a so-called “solar tsunami”.
