Geoshift

Ben Davidson of @SpaceWeatherNews (his YouTube channel) featured an important research article yesterday based on four low-latitude red auroral events observed in Japan in 2024. The significance of this is that red aurora are normally associated with intense solar activity, plus the fact they were observed at a low latitude, and therefore this is a strong indicator of a weakening geomagnetic field.

It has become more common to observe aurora at lower latitudes due to this decline. This is one of the simplest and most obvious demonstrations of this weakening, despite their beauty and the wonder they inspire.

Link to article: ‘Faint red auroras as seen from Japan associated with intense magnetospheric compression.’ – Tomohiro M. Nakayama and Ryuhu Kataoka https://www.swscjournal.org/articles/swsc/full_html/2026/01/swsc250047/swsc250047.html