By Sean McCloat<\/p>\n
Greetings, Aurorasaurans! In our recent #tweetchat about the aurora<\/a>, we received a tweet requesting more information about what Bz, Kp and solar wind density are, and how they relate to the aurora. Since these are good questions that cannot adequately be answered in tweet form, we will be publishing a series of blog posts that explain what these terms are and how they relate to aurora. \u00a0We will also include discussions of other related concepts to help flesh out more of the science about aurora.<\/p>\n If you have been keeping up with our Aurorasaurus blog posts<\/a> (which if you have not been, you are seriously missing out), or have read through our learn section<\/a>, then you are probably familiar with the general mechanisms that create auroras. But just to recap, here is a broad overview: the Sun\u2019s constant stream of energetic particles, called the solar wind, can sometimes be bolstered by events called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are usually cone-shaped explosions of fast moving, electrically charged solar particles.<\/p>\n