The auroral 'oval' is centered on the north magnetic pole, and shows where the most intense 'Northern Lights' are located. During intense storms, the auroral oval can expand to lower latitudes and cause brilliant aurora across the lower United States.
Severe disturbances can also cause power outages.
For more details, visit our FUV Primer . The image shows the plasmasphere, which EUV images by detecting ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 3040 Angstroms from ionized helium atoms. The plasmasphere is the high-altitude extension of the ionosphere. The image also shows additional features including the fact that the plasmasphere is not a smooth region of particles but has considerable structure. The shadow of the Earth can also be seen in these views as a sudden decrease in the brightness of the helium emission 'behind' the Earth opposite the Sun.