Starship Asterisk*

Nova Scotia Northern Lights

Explanation: This almost otherworldly display of northern lights was captured in clear skies during the early hours of March 31 from 44 degrees north latitude, planet Earth. In a five second exposure the scene looks north from Martinique Beach Provincial Park in Nova Scotia, Canada. Stars of the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia shine well above the horizon, through the red tint of the higher altitude auroral glow. Auroral activity was anticipated by skywatchers alerted to the possibility of stormy space weather by Sun-staring spacecraft. The predicted geomagnetic storm was sparked as a coronal mass ejection, launched from prolific solar active region 2975, impacted our fair planet's magnetosphere.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

I love the crafty Lovecraft reference in yesterday’s pointer this phot. One of my favorite stories of his!

Eric

I love beautiful APOD photos! Keep them coming APOD!
There is a lot of pink on this aurora!

The predicted geomagnetic storm was sparked as a coronal mass ejection,...

"As" or "by"? And here's Cassiopeia:

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat Apr 02, 2022 9:09 pm

The predicted geomagnetic storm was sparked as a coronal mass ejection,...

"As" or "by"? And here's Cassiopeia:


cassiopeia in aurora.JPG

Click to view full size image

"The predicted geomagnetic storm was sparked as a coronal mass ejection, launched from prolific solar active region 2975, impacted our fair planet's magnetosphere."

"as" is the correct word. It connects two things happening at the same time: The CME and its impact with the magnetosphere. Read the quote without the inserted phrase (crossed out). It only makes sense if you use "as" You could also use both "as" and "by", and say the storm was sparked by the CME as it impacted the magnetosphere.

alter-ego wrote: ↑Sun Apr 03, 2022 3:23 am

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat Apr 02, 2022 9:09 pm

The predicted geomagnetic storm was sparked as a coronal mass ejection,...

"As" or "by"? And here's Cassiopeia:

cassiopeia in aurora.JPG

...

"The predicted geomagnetic storm was sparked as a coronal mass ejection, launched from prolific solar active region 2975, impacted our fair planet's magnetosphere."

"as" is the correct word. It connects two things happening at the same time: The CME and its impact with the magnetosphere. Read the quote without the inserted phrase (crossed out). It only makes sense if you use "as" You could also use both "as" and "by", and say the storm was sparked by the CME as it impacted the magnetosphere.

Yeah, you're right. The extra comma-delimited phrase somehow threw me off.