Rep. Matt Gaetz
@RepMattGaetz
33m
Happy 77th birthday to the U.S. Navy Blue Angels!
Apr 24, 2023, 1:56 PM
https://truthsocial.com/@RepMattGaetz/posts/110255787741903651
>'77
Severe solar storm slams into Earth and sparks stunning auroras around the world (photos)
Apr 24 2023
A powerful solar storm hit Earth on April 23 at 1:37 p.m. EDT (1737 GMT) and sparked magnificent aurora shows around the world.
Geomagnetic storms are disturbances to Earth's magnetic field caused by solar material from coronal mass ejections (CME) — large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's atmosphere. This particular geomagnetic storm was triggered by a CME which left the sun on April 21.
The geomagnetic storm peaked as a severe G4 on the 5-grade scale used by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)(opens in new tab) to assess the severity of space weather events.
During a solar storm, energized particles from the sun slam into Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph (72 million kph) and our planet's magnetic field funnels the particles toward the poles. The supercharging of molecules in Earth's atmosphere triggers the colorful spectacles, which usually remain limited to areas at high latitudes for the aurora borealis (northern lights) and low latitudes for the aurora australis (southern lights).
This time, skywatchers around the world were treated to dazzling aurora borealis displays that reached as far south as Colorado and New Mexico. In Europe, auroras were spotted as far south as France and Germany. At the other end of the scale, the aurora australis was spotted as far North as New South Wales' central west, Australia.
https://www.space.com/auroras-triggered-by-severe-solar-storm-april-2023-photos