An article was published presenting conclusions on this topic. Scientific progressAs its authors emphasize, what immediately caught the eye in the case of the Christmas events that occurred almost two years ago was the sheer size of the aurora. It stretched for about 4,000 kilometers, but that was not the end of its amazing features.
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Their uniformity turned out to be just as surprising. This applies to both colors and shapes. While a typical aurora is a dazzling display of dynamically changing lights, this was something completely different. Researchers now know where these differences come from.
Normally, interactions of electrons emitted from the Sun with the Earth’s atmosphere contribute to such light displays. These particles accelerate toward the poles, which explains why the greatest chance of observing aurora is in the far north or south.
The 2022 aurora borealis, seen on Christmas Day, had very unusual features. It also covered a surprisingly large area.
Was it the same in this case? To find out, the research team members used data from the remaining satellites in orbit at the end of 2022. It turned out that when the aurora appeared, there was practically no solar wind. At the same time, a coronal hole formed on the surface of the Sun, from which huge amounts of high-energy electrons were emitted.
Such particles can fall freely over the North Pole, and the resulting steady flow determines the calm nature of the aurora there. Astronomers call this phenomenon polar rain. Its observation is historic because until now it has only been seen from space. Never before has such art been achieved from the surface of our planet.
Read also: One of the poles has discovered a star that is behaving really strangely. This could be an alien habitat.
Another surprising piece of information emerged in the course of this astronomical investigation. Electrons coming from the coronal hole on the Sun’s surface can cover an area of about 7,500 kilometers. This helps explain why the aurora borealis in late 2022 is so widespread.
