text: On 4-5 October 2012, a mass of energetic particles from the atmosphere of the sun were flung out into space, a phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection. Three days later, the storm from the sun stirred up the magnetic field around Earth and produced gorgeous displays of northern lights. NASA satellites track such storms from their origin to their crossing of interplanetary space to their arrival in the atmosphere of Earth. This is a satellite view of the aurora borealis taken early on the morning of 8 October 2012. The northern lights stretch across Canada's Quebec and Ontario provinces in the image. Credit: NASA/Suomi NPP.