Re: Would Solar Winds ever be able to reach into Earths Atmosphere?

Date: Tue Jan 26 14:02:17 2010
Posted By: Nicolle Zellner, Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Area of science: Earth Sciences
ID: 1260910366.Es

Message:

Yes. Solar winds do interact with our atmosphere. In fact, that's how we get the beautiful Northern and Southern lights (aurorae). See http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/sciences/aurora_borealis.asp for an explanation of this.

I'm not sure what you mean by "internal aurora", but solar winds are known to affect power grids.

Some nice websites include:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/23oct_superstorm.htm
http://www.solarstorms.org/SRefStorms.html (scroll down to 1989, Quebec)

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