Auroras are some of the most captivating natural light displays on Earth, but the one on Christmas Day, 2022, was different. It was an exceptionally gigantic aurora in the polar cap region with some unique features. It also coincided with a period when the solar wind had almost completely disappeared. Now, researchers have finally figured out what happened. Forming AurorasAuroras are formed by interactions between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere. They’re produced by the precipitation of energetic electrons from the magnetosphere into the Earth’s atmosphere. When these electrons co…