Aurora australis and borealis, what a thrill.

It has been seen in many countries around the world, caused by two major solar flares that occurred Sunday, March 8, 2015.
Two large solar flares have led to the expulsion of energetic particles (plasma), that reached the Earth in advance and with a higher intensity than expected. The result was that in many countries of the world – United States, Estonia, Alaska, Germany, New Zealand, to list a few – it was possible to see the aurora. Some very nice photos of aurora australis were taken from  Zhongshan Antarctic base, a Chinese permanent base that is located in the Australian Antarctic territory. The solar storm was ranked # 4 level, on a scale of 1 to 5 set by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Federal agency that deals with the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere. The American authorities, the Guardian writes, said that the solar storm could have caused some interruptions to electricity grids, problems to GPS systems and other communications systems.

Source: Il Post http://www.ilpost.it/2015/03/18/foto-aurora-boreale-2/