images

Aurora borealis 10/2003

by

D.Anderson/Novapix

Reference

t-met01-11025

Date

2007-10-26

This image is taken on the morning of October 31, 2003. Two massive solar flares, amongst the most powerful ever recorded, were responsible for beautiful auroras seen from much of the world. The huge events actually stripped layers from the Earth's outer atmosphere and it took several months to return to normal. Fortunately for us on Earth this atmosphere protects us from the intense particle radiation. An astronaut on a space-walk would not fare so well and would soon be dead due to the exposure to this kind of radiation.