Northern Lights brighter thanks to geomagnetic storm

Thursday, January 26, 2012 - 2:52 PM

Yellowknife, N.W.T. - There have been some magnificent sights in the sky over the past few days and they’re all thanks to the Sun.

A geomagnetic storm on the star's surface has caused a large wave of charged particles to pass over the Earth, thus making the Aurora Borealis much more exciting to see.

The president of Astronomy North, James Pugsley, said the big impact occurred on Jan. 24th, which made sure we would get quite the show.

"We had a rather significant impact with the earth's magnetic field. The particles were moving at 724 kilometres per second which is a rather, as far as these events go, a pretty significant rate."

This is the largest storm of its kind since 2003, but Pugsley said it wasn't as big as was previously forecast by scientists.

"The actual event ended up being a G1 which is considered to be a minor storm, and that means people in the northern provinces and those of us who are in close proximity to the northern magnetic pole got the best show."

The best of the storm has passed, but Pugsley said there are still particles passing overhead and he suggested trying to get out and take things in before it passes.

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