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Aurora, Trier, Germany Imaged on October 30, 2003 by Eva Seidenfaden (Atmospheric Optics site). "After one of the most powerful solar eruptions ever recorded by SOHO since it was brought into service in 1976, an extremely powerful geomagnetic storm occurred. A series of coronal mass ejections near sunspots 448 and 468, the largest in 13 years, caused radio and power blackouts. Satellites were shut down. The particle front arrived after only 9 hours, a day earlier than usual, and caused widespread very bright aurorae in Middle Europe over the next two nights. At Trier, it had been cloudy with even some heavy rain on October 29th, but on the second day the aurorae could easily be spotted. At 21:40, a green glow brightened the northern horizon and quickly got stronger, shining through the cloud holes. At 22:15, red auroral rays appeared, accompanied by yellowish or greenish veils near the horizon, with whitish rays wandering through them. Despite the [low] latitude of 49.8°, the aurorae were so bright they easily penetrated the thin clouds and even appeared overhead. At 22:45, the aurorae got fainter and the clouds began to cover the whole sky." |
