Remember a few months back whenmore of us than usualwere treated to a spectacular show of aurora ? If you ’re one of the people who missed out , you could soon be in with another fortune of seeing the show , thanks to a phenomenon known as the Russell - McPherron effect .
While aurora time of year is by and large considered to be between late August and mid - April , there are two metre in that period thatusuallysee the most auroral activity : September and March , specifically , around the spill and bounce equinox .
For a long time , the reason for this pattern eluded scientist . Then , in 1973 , two geophysicist called Christopher Russell and Robert McPherronpresenteda theory involving the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun .
Most of the fourth dimension , the Earth and Sun ’s magnetized area are misaligned , leaving our satellite ’s field less open to the aurora - stimulate effect of the solar wind . However , towards the equinox , the two fields line up but taper in opposite directions , which allows for greater capture of the charged particles that causeaurora .
It should be noted , however , that Russell and McPherron are n’t the only I who ’ve render an explanation – other theories as to the uptick in geomagnetic natural process , though perhaps not as wide accepted , do exist .
" During the equinoxes , the predilection of the Earth ’s poles is ( almost ) vertical to that of the sunshine , " Dr Ciaran Beggan , a geophysicist at the British Geological Survey , explain toNewsweek .
“ This maximizes the ' coupling ' between the solar fart and the Earth ’s magnetic bailiwick . In summer or wintertime , one of the Earth ’s poles is channelise at an slant from the solar wind so the sexual union between them is depleted and hence there are fewer storms on average . ”
In any sheath , it ’s a phenomenon that may well be aggravate this year with the elevation of the currentsolar oscillation , the Sun ’s Hz of action that , over the course of 11 years , goes from lower limit to maximum and back again .
We ’re currently witnessing the solar maximum , a full point that can see a drastic addition in macula , solar flares , and coronal spate ejections , which can send huge floods of charged particles toward the Earth . That ’s why , back in May , Earth had itsstrongest geomagnetic storm in 20 year , with aurorae seen far further south than common .
If we get another sheer whopper of a macula around the clip of the equinox , then it ’s possible that we may just get to see an even more acute display than before .
[ H / T : Live Science ]
