The STEVE has paid a visit to the United States. This picture was taken a few days ago … go to www.spaceweather.com
… which brings us around to a piece in The Times a few weeks ago. It concerned bombing raids on London during the First World War. Initially these were made by Zeppelin air ships but later, in 1917, aircraft were used. Night flights at that time were safer for the attacker but navigation was a problem (in the dark). Moonlight therefore became a factor and citizens of London slept more soundly when the moon was obscured by cloud (which happens quite often in our neck of the woods). However, on March 7th 1918 there was no moonlight – but the bombing raid still took place. On that night there was an unusual display of auroral lights over southern England which provided adequate lighting to illuminate the city. In fact, it had a distinct rosy pink glow that caused the inhabitants to think the whole city was aglow with a great fire.