Jennifer Briggs, a NASA intern from Pepperdine University, discovered a new type of aurora, Business Insider is reporting.
The unique aurora was found in three-year-old video footage of the Arctic sky, according to the news outlet.
Working with NASA scientists, Briggs was able to connect the aurora to a sudden retreat in the Earth's magnetic field.
According to Business Insider, it is the first time scientists have witnessed an aurora that was solely caused by a compression of the magnetic field. Normally an aurora is caused when high-energy particles from the sun pouring over the Earth.
There is speculation the new type of aurora might have been a result of a storm in the region where Earth's magnetic field meets particles from the sun.
The aurora's spiral had never been seen.
"This motion is something that we've never seen before," Briggs said. "This eastward and then westward and then spiraling motion is not something that we've ever seen, not something we currently understand."
"I attribute this discovery as such a blessing," she said, according to a statement from Pepperdine.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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