Aurora from Willingdon on 10th Oct 2024.
This is the second time this year we have seen some great views of the aurora from as far south as Eastbourne. Why?
It is solar maximum (an 11 year cycle) – so there are more sunspots and hence more chance of solar flares and CME’s (coronal mass ejections) coming in our direction. Another reason is that we have technology now that can forecast the impact of the charged particles of the solar wind on the Earth’s magnetic field, using data from space probes between the Earth and the Sun at the L1 (Lagrange) Point.
Plus, everyone has a smartphone in their pocket and the camera technology of these allows us to easily take photos of this kind of phenomenon.
Amazing!
PS. Spot the Pleiades, a.k.a. M45 or The Seven Sisters.
Image Credit: Terry Webb