A crack in Earth's magnetic field this morning and bang, the solar wind drops in … leaving us with this
… courtesy of http://spaceweather.com March 10th 2018. Solar wind breached the Earth's magnetic field and 'the sky exploded with auroras' according to Kristen Berg of Tromso in Norway. Apparently, the crack was prised open by the solar wind itself. Anthony has the same story at https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/03/11/with-the-sun-spotless-cracks-are-… … but do read the comments. Leif Svalgard (second comment) says it is wrong to call the relationship electro-magnetic. It would be better to say magnetic as it is the magnetic field of the solar wind that makes it behave like a fluid that can interact with the earth's magnetic field (flow around it while also connecting with it). The bulk of the solar wind does not enter the earth's upper atmosphere via a 'crack' in the dayside of the magnetic field. The particles that cause aurora and magnetic storms enter from the night side and are for a large part derived by outlfows from the earth. The solar wind magnetic field is connected with the earth magnetic field at all times, at least at some locations of the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere is therefore open – and the idea of cracks is nonsense. Some sparring takes place but Svalgard is able to answer most of the queries.