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Thursday, 9 February 2012




The sun's surface suffers huge blast

A huge blast on the sun’s surface has caused the northern lights to be seen further south than usual.

The explosion, which is technically known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), fired a huge stream of fast, energetic particles towards Earth.

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are caused by these charged particles from the sun hitting the Earth’s magnetic field. They release energy in the form of light, causing the dramatic greens and reds that brighten the night sky. Although we hear about the northern lights most often, the same thing happens at the south pole, where they are called the aurora australis, or southern lights.

People in Scotland reported seeing amazing auroral displays, but the lights could even be seen as far south as North Yorkshire.

The Space Weather Prediction Center says that the CME caused the strongest solar radiation storm since October 2003.

These radiation storms have been known to affect satellites and radio communications, but they aren’t harmful to humans.

Did you see the northern lights this week? Send an email to newsdesk@firstnews.co.uk and let us know!





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  • Sam121 (Age 7) wrote on Thursday, 9 February 2012 @ 16:03

    Oh my days, today? what if the sun falls on us and we turn to dust!! I hope the NASA can tell us , PLEASE, I don't want me and my family and relatives[including my hamster and our family fishes]to die! I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE ,PLEASE GOD SAVE US!!!!! I hope a piece of the sun falls on earth because the suns probably 318000 times larger than the earth I think, I'll probably have to ask the NASA!!

  • lewwolfe (Age 9) wrote on Thursday, 9 February 2012 @ 17:52

    where all going to die

  • animals1 (Age 13) wrote on Sunday, 12 February 2012 @ 13:36

    Stop saying all that you 2! We have to think good thoughts.OMG!

  • Sam121 (Age 7) wrote on Sunday, 12 February 2012 @ 19:04

    I know right!!!