However, over the past 3 billion years Earth may have lost gases through the magnetic polar regions due to auroral activity, including a net 2 % of its atmospheric oxygen.
12.
From mid-August through the beginning of May, weekly forecasts of auroral activity are available from the Geophysical Institute Information Office by e-mail on the Internet at fygipub ( AT ) aurora . alaska . edu; by phone at 907-474-7798; or by fax at 907-474-7125.
13.
"Auroral activity stays high for a year or two after the sunspot peak, " said David H . Hathaway, a senior solar physicist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala . " A lot of the stuff that causes auroras comes later, like coronal mass ejections.
14.
The series also featured live broadcasts from Norway with the aim of capturing the aurora borealis on camera; although the show's publicity emphasised that the unpredictable nature of the aurora meant this attempt could easily fail, an unexpectedly large coronal mass ejection that week resulted in strong auroral activity, with live footage of the phenomenon being captured on all three nights.
