PERFECT NIGHT: Robert Postma of Fort Simpson, Canada, went outside on August 12th to see the Perseids and got more than he bargained for. "I was treated to a triple whammy," he says. "The auroras came out, noctilucent clouds lit up the horizon, and a meteor streaked across the sky. It was a perfect night."
And an unlikely one....
The Perseids and, to a lesser degree, the noctilucent clouds were expected. But where did the auroras come from? There was no solar flare or gust of solar wind to spark the display. It appears to have been an unprovoked spasm of geomagnetic activity, which appeared on its own schedule, in the middle of the best meteor shower in years.
Sometimes it just pays to be outside. Keep looking up!
