Birds on the Brain

Auroras over North America are seen from space on the morning of 8 October 2012. Overnight on October 4-5, 2012, a mass of energetic particles from the atmosphere of the Sun were flung out into space, a phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection. Three days later, the storm from the Sun stirred up the magnetic field around Earth and produced displays of northern lights. Picture: NASA/Suomi NPP - VIIRS / Rex Features (via Pictures of the day: 12 October 2012 - Telegraph)