March 9-13, 2014
In the sun's northern hemisphere, magnetic fields have opened up, allowing a stream of solar wind to escape into space. Such openings are called "coronal holes". A stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole should reach Earth on or about March 9th. Because the "spigot" is located in the sun's northern hemisphere, the stream will sail mostly north of our planet, delivering only a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field. A glancing blow, however, might be enough to spark polar auroras. For reasons that researchers don't fully understand, spring is aurora season. With the northern vernal equinox just around the corner, even small gusts of solar wind can stir up geomagnetic activity.
It was a clear night, somewhere around -25°C. The wind was calm, thankfully. The moon was about 75% visible.
There are 33 pictures in this set from our position near Wiseman, Alaska which we reached after a short drive from Coldfoot, Alaska.
Nothing noted. A quiet night was expected
It was mostly overcast, somewhere around -10°C. The wind was light, around 5kts, The moon, when not behind clouds, was about 85% visible.
There are 8 pictures in this set from our position at Chena Hot Springs outside of Fairbanks, Alaska.
Although there was no forecast of strong activity, auroras were dancing high in the sky--very bright and very fast. The unexpected storm, a relatively minor G1-class event, was caused by a fluctuation in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). As March 12th turned to 13th, the IMF tilted south, opening a crack in Earth's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in and fueled the display.
It was a mostly clear night, somewhere around -15°C. The wind was light, around 5kts with gusts to 15kts. The moon was about 90% visible.
I put together a series of pictures into the following GIF animations to show the movement of the Aurora. Click on each to see the sequence:
There are 25 pictures in this set from our position at Chena Hot Springs outside of Fairbanks, Alaska.