THEMIS E/PO : Gallery and Activities

Auroras Gallery

On October 28th and 29th 2003, the Sun released the most energy from a single active region ever recorded. Several huge ejections of mass from the Sun called Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) started with velocities of more than 2000 km/s near the Sun and reached Earth after only 19 hours. This is the fastest arrival of a CME since 1972. When these CMEs hit Earth's magnetic field on October 29th and 30th, they caused the largest geomagnetic storm of this solar cycle. This geomagnetic activity resulted in a power outage in southern Sweden, a transformer heating at a nearby nuclear plant, and auroras around the globe. Many substorms occurred during these days and some of the aurora can be associated with the different phases of an auroral substorm. Below are images from people around the globe who photographed these images.


Lionel Bernardi Tromsø, Norway	Dan Bush Albany, Missouri, USA

Sherry Buttnor Metchosin, BC, Canada	Lonnie Ganz 39,000 ft above Ontario, Canada

Calvin Hall Eureka area NE of Anchorage, Alaska, USA	Calvin Hall Eureka area NE of Anchorage, Alaska, USA

Ed Kreminski Westerville, Ohio, USA	Rebekah and Caitlin LaBar Ellensburg, Washington, USA

Tim Reyes, Buchannon & Elkins West Virginia, USA	Robert B. Slobins LaOtto, Indiana, USA

Robert B. Slobins, LaOtto Indiana, USA	Jimmy Westlake near Yampa, Colorado, USA