One of the most beautiful natural phenomena in the world must be the northern lights. They are something I’d love to see in person one day, I’ve seen them on TV a few times and they look truly awe inspiring.

When the sun flares it casts off large quantities of charged particles which then interact with the magnetic field around the earth, this causes auroras we know as the northern lights.

Scientists have known for some time that two different events happen at the tail of a storm but till now they were unsure as to which one causes the auroras to begin. Now, however, some researchers in NASA have identified what exactly starts the lighting effects we can observe. Dr. Angelopoulos, who has been working on this project, says that having sent satellites into space to observe and quantify the magnetic and electrical fields around the earth as well as the particles themselves, his group has concluded that the order of events is as follows:

1. the magnetic fields snap
2. the auroras burst
3. disruption in the charged particles

What is interesting in that is that the disruption in the charged particles occurs after the auroras themselves? “This defies our old paradigms,” Dr. Angelopoulos said.

The team hope that this research is a step in providing reliable forecasts of geomagnetic storms. These storms can lead to disruptions in the satellites in orbit and power grids on the earth.