Plasmasphere shrinks to 1/5 size during Mother's Day solar storm
AI Summary1 min read
TL;DR
The Mother's Day solar storm, the strongest in 20 years, compressed Earth's plasmasphere to one-fifth its size and caused auroras visible from Townsville to Florida. It was rated as an extreme G5 storm.
The Mother's Day solar storm, also known as the Gannon storm, was the most powerful solar storm in two decades. It squeezed the plasmasphere, a layer of charged particles surrounding the Earth, to one-fifth its size. The storm caused auroras to be seen as far north as Townsville and as far south as Florida. The storm was classified as an extreme G5 storm, the highest intensity on the G scale.
