Great Lenten Hem of His Garment extraordinaire
Tour guide Marianne Bergli of Tromsø, Norway, photographed the colorful lights on March 25th as Earth was passing through the CME's gaseous wake. "It was quite a show!" she says.
CMEs contain relatively strong magnetic fields. In this case, the CME's wake was magnetized almost five times stronger than ordinary solar wind. Those fields connected to the magnetic field of Earth and pried open a crack. Solar wind poured in to fuel the display.
"The nights are growing shorter here in Tromsø," says Bergli. "Soon, aurora season will be over--but not yet! I'm looking forward to a few more good displays in the weeks ahead."