On the way, March 20, 2015 - Full Northern Solar eclipse Supermoon conjunct the Spring Equinox

On the evening of March 17, residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vologda, Perm and a number of other cities in the center and north-west of Russia witnessed the polar (northern) lights. Scientists have already explained to reporters what happened with a strong magnetic storm. The Hydrometeorological Center, in turn, explained that “good visibility, very dry air” also played a role.
On Tuesday evening, residents of a number of regions of Russia began to report what they managed to see Northern Lights. And it was not only about northern regions- St. Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Karelia and Komi, but also about more southern regions, such as Moscow, Tver and Smolensk.

What is aurora?

The polar (northern) lights are a phenomenon of the glow of the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere, caused by the movement of charged particles of the solar wind in the planet's magnetic field. Auroras are usually observed in the so-called auroral zones - zones-belts, which are located in high latitudes, as they surround the Earth's magnetic poles. But this evening, such a powerful flash reached the planet that the inhabitants of more than southern latitudes, including in Moscow.
To understand the nature of the northern lights, you need to think of the Earth as a big magnet.

Earth's magnetosphere distorted by the solar wind.

The poles of this magnet are the points from which lines of force magnetic field The lands are close to geographic poles planets, but still not exactly in them. Yes, north magnetic pole The land is located within the boundaries of the current Canadian Arctic, and, strictly speaking, it is south pole, because it attracts the north compass needle.
The charged particles of the solar wind have a fairly powerful energy, which is enough to ionize and excite the atoms and molecules of gases that make up the dense layers of the atmosphere.
These excited atoms emit energy in the form of light, which causes the northern lights.

An analogue of this phenomenon is an experiment in which a discharge is demonstrated that occurs when passing through a gas electric current. A similar thing happens when lightning is observed from thunder, but there we are talking about other energy values ​​than for auroras.
Scientists have already studied the auroras quite well and found that the excited oxygen atoms cause the glow of red and green colors. Violet and invisible to the eye infrared radiation caused by ionized nitrogen molecules. Hydrogen atoms can become a source of a weak red glow.

How to track the aurora

In order to increase the likelihood of observing the northern lights, ideally, of course, you need to be in the auroral zone. A surprise like the one on Tuesday does not happen every year at the latitude of Moscow; in terms of its power, experienced observers compare the current northern lights with what they saw in the 1980-1990s. But in the north you can not always expect guaranteed good weather. For example, these days in Murmansk - and this is a district polar circle and guaranteed auroral zone - located special group to observe the northern lights, which combined her trip there with observations of the upcoming March 20 solar eclipse.
And one can imagine the feeling of disappointment of the expedition members, caused by the fact that on Tuesday there was cloudy weather in Murmansk, and, for example, in Moscow it was clear, that is, very comfortable for observing the auroras.

So that the northern lights do not come as a surprise, the science department of Gazeta.Ru may advise you to follow solar activity on specialized sites. The ejection of charged particles by the Sun does not occur at the speed of light, as solar radiation, and it takes two or three days before sunny wind will reach the Earth's magnetic field and cause colorful flashes in its atmosphere. In addition, not every solar flare will cause an aurora. Therefore, the easiest way to monitor the so-called average planetary index of deviation of the Earth's magnetic field from the norm - Kp-index. This is a logarithmic index, which is measured from 0 to 9 points. 5-6 points is geomagnetic storm, 7-8 points - geomagnetic storm. In Murmansk, you can see the aurora at a Kp value of about 3, in Moscow - about 6.

Planetary Kp index showing where and at what values ​​the aurora can be observed.

Experienced aurora watchers last years began to install on their smartphones special programs, which report if the Kp index starts to rise.

At the time of submission of the material, the index, according to the site http://www.swpc.noaa.gov, where information about space weather according to National Administration of the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (NOAA), the Kp-index was 8. According to the aurora animation for last hours it can be seen that the aurora zone has already moved northwest of Moscow.
But nothing prevents this zone from returning: the current aurora was the result of powerful flash on the Sun, which was observed on March 15.

This flare is not the only one: three more flares occurred over the next 36 hours, and only on Tuesday the Sun calmed down a bit. So the science department of Gazeta.Ru advises to look at the sky more often in dark time days, both tonight and tonight.

Ryazan Oblast

Moscow region

Vologda

Zelenograd

Arkhangelsk

Moscow

Ivanovo

Udmurtia

St. Petersburg

Krasnoturinsk (Sverdlovsk region)

On March 17-18, the inhabitants of our planet could admire the most beautiful phenomenon - the colorful northern lights. Geomagnetic activity was so strong that bright flashes were visible not only to the inhabitants of the most northern latitudes, but also in St. Petersburg and even in the Tula region!

According to the data on the night of March 17-18, the value of the K-index in Moscow reached a value of 8. Recall that maximum value this index is 9. Scientists explain this northern lights in middle lane Russia's strongest solar storm over the past year and a half.

The world has already said that such indicators can provoke a shift of the northern lights to the south. So it turned out to see the radiance where it usually does not happen.

94 photos were sent to the competition.

According to the Jury (astrophotographers: Alexander Rudoy, ​​Maxim Khisamutdinov, organizers of pathspace)

1st place - Kirill Kazachkov

Iso 1600 shutter speeds for 1 sec aperture 2.8, camera Canon EOS 6d, Samyang 14 2.8

After the outbreak on the Sun, X began to patiently wait for the ejection to reach our planet. As soon as the wave reached Canada, I began to pack for the trip. Since it is difficult to calculate the coverage strength in advance, I decided not to risk staying in St. Petersburg and went to the coast Lake Ladoga in the area of ​​the Osinovetsky lighthouse. Arriving at sunset, I decided to explore the area and choose a suitable foreground. Then minutes of tremulous expectation began, and as soon as the sun disappeared below the horizon, pale red flashes began to appear in the sky. Every minute they became brighter and eventually I found myself inside a huge dome that shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. My delight knew no bounds, since such auroras are extremely rare for our latitudes. From optics, I had a Samyang 14 2.8 lens and it was decided to shoot panoramas from horizontal frames so that the crown would get into the frame. This picture is made of 6 horizontal frames with further mixing.

2nd place - Sergey Makurin

Northern Ural. Neighborhood of Karpinsk, Sverdlovsk region. 03/17/2015 10:40 p.m. Panorama 5 vertical frames. Canon 5D mark II. Canon 16-35 f 2.8 L USM, ISO 800, f 3.2, 20s.

I have been waiting for this event for a long time. Moreover, when it got dark, he went outside specifically to see if pale green clouds were glowing in the north with a timid light.

However, it still took me by surprise. First I had to rush home from Karpinsk to Krasnoturinsk to get the camera, and then shoot where I had to, well, at least something.

Now I understand that shooting the aurora also requires experience. Having it and knowing the points in advance, it was possible to shoot much better. But now, as one said good man I know exactly what I will do next time. It remains only to wait.

3rd place - Sergey Ulikhin

03/17/2015, 00:00 UR, p. Golyansky Canon 1000D, Samyang 24mm f / 1.4 In panorama 22 frames by 5 sec, iso 400 stacked in PTGui, Lightroom 5 post-processing

I observed this phenomenon for the first time in Udmurtia in January 2012. I learned about the current radiance from a stranger, and at first I didn’t even want to go. It was already 11 pm when he began to gather in the field, at the same time calling those who wanted to. The aurora borealis was visible even in Izhevsk with the naked eye, but in the field outside the city there was something unimaginable, a glow on the floor of the sky. As soon as I arrived, I immediately prepared the equipment, shot the panorama, and set about time-lapse. Everything was done in a hurry to shoot the material at the moment of maximum. Completely satisfied achieved result, and the fact that he took a place in the competition is generally a surprise.

Congratulations to the 3 winners! Thank you all for participating, for your beautiful work!

Soon the article will be published in 2 magazines "Nebosvod" and "Universe. Space and Time"

Published on 18.03.15 00:58

March 17 residents of the row central regions Russia witnessed natural phenomenon, which can usually only be seen over the northern parts of the country.

Residents of a number of regions in the center and north-west of Russia, including Moscow, witnessed a rare phenomenon for this area - the polar (northern) lights. Users of social networks on the evening of Tuesday, March 17, began to upload photos of the sky with a green and purple glow, Lenta.Ru reports.

Meanwhile, at the Institute of Applied Geophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this phenomenon was explained by a strong magnetic storm, during which such aurora occurs. The representative of the Hydrometeorological Center confirmed this information.

“Good visibility, very dry air, thanks to the anticyclone, which has been holding in the capital region for a week, some dustiness of the atmosphere, as well as the most main premise- a magnetic storm could cause the northern lights, ”he said.

“Theoretically, the phenomenon observed by Muscovites could be the northern lights. The magnetic storm has been observed for almost six hours. There are prerequisites for the emergence of the northern lights over Moscow, ”the Hydrometeorological Center believes.

Withnorthern lights March 17, 2015inPetersburg(photo, video)

Meanwhile, residents of St. Petersburg can also watch the northern lights, Rusdialog reports.

“Magic in Krasnoye Selo! Incredible #Northern Lights. Amazing near<», - пишет в инстаграме katerin_fox.

“The quality is certainly not a fountain and what kind of phenomenon it is is not entirely clear, but this is what I observed from the balcony 10 minutes ago and is very similar to the northern lights,” aleksakeybal shares his impressions there.

It is also known that the northern lights can be observed throughout the North-West from Syktyvkar to Vologda, as well as in Central Russia and the Urals.

Photo: northern lights, Yoshkar-Ola

Photo: northern lights, Cheboksary

The northern lights were also observed by residents of the Tver region.

"Today the Tver region has witnessed a unique natural phenomenon,

When else could Muscovites see the northern lights?

In January of this year, Muscovites could also observe a rare natural phenomenon - light pillars. Such pillars are the result of the reflection of sunlight by the smallest ice crystals that form in frost in the low layers of the atmosphere. The pillars of light should not be confused with the aurora, which only occurs during strong magnetic storms.

Photo: northern lights Arkhangelsk

Where and when can you see the northern lights?

Auroras are observed mainly in the high latitudes of both hemispheres in oval zones-belts surrounding the Earth's magnetic poles, RIA Novosti reports.

Radiance occurs due to the fact that the upper layers of the planet's atmosphere interact with charged particles in the solar wind.

Auroras in spring and autumn occur much more often than in winter and summer. The peak frequency falls on the periods closest to the spring and autumn equinoxes.

When viewed from the surface of the Earth, the aurora appears in the form of a general rapidly changing glow of the sky or moving rays, stripes, crowns, "curtains". The duration of auroras ranges from tens of minutes to several days.

A photo: northern lights, Udmurtia

Photo: northern lights, Belarus