Earth  Sun  ID: 787

Polar Visible Aurora: Low Solar Wind Conditions on May 11, 1999 over the South Pole

Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on December 8, 1999
On May 11, 1999, the solar wind that blows constantly from the Sun virtually disappeared. Dropping to a small fraction of its normal density and to half its normal speed, the solar wind died down enough to allow physicists to observe particles flowing directly from the Sun's corona to Earth. This severe change in the solar wind also drastically changed the shape of Earth's magnetic field and produced a rare auroral display at Earth's North Pole.
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Visible aurora over the South Pole on May 11, 1999 as measured by Polar

Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
David Chenette (LMATC): Scientist
John B. Sigwarth (University of Iowa): Scientist
Mike Carlowicz (Wyle Information Systems): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/787

Mission:
Polar

Data Used:
Polar/VIS
1999/05/11
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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
Polar Aurora

Goddard TV Tape:
G1999-103

Keywords:
SVS >> Electron Fluxes
DLESE >> Geophysics
SVS >> Solar Wind
DLESE >> Space science
SVS >> Upper Atmosphere
NASA Science >> Earth
NASA Science >> Sun