SOLAR WIND SPARKS AURORAS: Earth is moving deeper into a solar wind stream  flowing from a hole in the sun’s atmosphere. With wind speeds topping 600 km/s, the stream is buffeting our planet’s magnetic field and sparking bright auroras round the Arctic Circle.  Frank Olsen sends this picture from Morfjord at Lofoten, Norway:

Click here to see Olsen’s complete panorama. “We expected a G1 show last night,” he says. “It didn’t quite reach that strength, but I was still quite satisfied with what we got.”

NOAA forecasters say there is a 50-50 chance that G1-class magnetic storms will occur on Feb. 24th.  That means the next photos could be even better. Monitor the realtime aurora gallery for sightings.

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