Auroras from Space

Some especially intense auroras resulting from solar flares associated with sunspot 930 were visible from outer space via an Air Force satellite. Here’s the story from SpaceWeather.com:

AURORAS FROM SPACE: How bright were the auroras of Dec. 14th? As bright as city lights and easily seen from space. A US Air Force DMSP satellite took this picture from orbit 830 km above the United States:

The bright arc stretching from Montana to Maine is the aurora Borealis. In many places it completely overwhelms the city lights below.

“The DMSP satellite has the ability to detect auroral light at night,” says Paul McCrone of the Air Force Weather Agency at Offutt AFB in Nebraska. “These images are mosaics of various DMSP overflights on Dec. 12-13, Dec. 13-14, and Dec 14-15. The Dec. 14th image is quite striking.”

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