Is it true that the "first aurora appeared in Chongqing" is true? A starry sky photographer is here to answer the question!

On August 14, a photographer posted a photo of an eye-catching sky scene with the caption "The first aurora appeared in Chongqing". The photo was taken at Qingcaoping, Chengkou County, which attracted attention. Some netizens left comments in the comment section, saying "It's unlikely to be the aurora" and "It's a bit scary to see the aurora in Chongqing."

Under what circumstances does the aurora appear? Will the aurora really appear in Chengkou? Does the aurora have any impact on human health? Chongqing Rumor Refutation has joined hands with the Chongqing Association for Science and Technology and the Chongqing Astronomical Society, and specially invited Chongqing's famous starry sky photographer Dai Jianfeng to answer your questions.

01Under what circumstances will the Aurora appear?

On August 12, the National Space Weather Monitoring and Early Warning Center issued a message: Affected by the solar coronal mass ejection activity, the Earth has experienced a geomagnetic storm process lasting 15 hours in the past 24 hours. Among them, a large geomagnetic storm with a Kp index of 7 occurred from 11:00 to 17:00 Beijing time on August 12.

Han Dayang, senior engineer of the Space Weather Technology Research and Development Office of the National Space Weather Monitoring and Early Warning Center of the China Meteorological Administration, said, "Geomagnetic storms are invisible and imperceptible to humans."

The most direct manifestation of a geomagnetic storm is auroral activity. On the evening of August 11, there were observation records of auroral activity in Mohe, located in the northernmost part of my country.

At 11:12 p.m. on August 12, star photographer Dai Jianfeng captured the aurora in Huanglong, Sichuan.

Photographed by star photographer Dai Jianfeng

02Will the Aurora appear on Chengkou Qingcaoping?

Will the aurora really appear in Qingcaoping, Chengkou? Experts from the Chengkou County Meteorological Bureau said that the geomagnetic latitude range of the aurora zone is 60°-90°, and weak aurora can be observed at 45°-60°. The geomagnetic latitude range of Chengkou is 31°-32°, and Qingcaoping is a high-altitude area where aurora cannot be seen.

Dai Jianfeng said that the aurora video he shot in Huanglong showed that the orange-tinged scene on the horizon at the beginning was the aurora. As the sky got brighter, purple-red appeared in the sky, which was not the aurora. The scene the photographer shot on the green grass lawn in Chengkou was not the aurora either, but the morning light effect produced after dawn, which is different from the aurora.

03Will the Aurora affect people’s health?

The aurora caused by geomagnetic storms does look beautiful. So, will the appearance of aurora affect health? Dai Jianfeng said that aurora will not affect human health.

Experts say that even if there were X-class flares and super-large geomagnetic storms like the one in May this year, ordinary people may not feel them too strongly and their health will not be affected. However, strong geomagnetic activity may affect the migration and navigation capabilities of animals. For example, for homing pigeons that use the sun and geomagnetism for navigation, the impact is greater.

Linked units: Chongqing Association for Science and Technology, Chongqing Astronomical Society

Source: Chongqing rumor refutation, Beijing release, space weather

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