auroras - 2025 ACF Winter - Buzzpoints App

Question

Kristian Birkeland used a small magnetic model ball called a “terrella” to represent Earth during his study of these phenomena. For 10 points each:

[10e] Name these colorful phenomena generated by interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field.

ANSWER: auroras [or aurorae; accept aurora borealis or aurora australis; accept northern lights or southern lights; prompt on, but DO NOT REVEAL, geomagnetic storms]

[10m] These events, which can be caused by interplanetary coronal mass ejections, allow auroras to become visible at lower magnetic latitudes. One of these events named for Richard Carrington would cause widespread electrical disruption if repeated today.

ANSWER: geomagnetic storms [prompt on solar storms; prompt on solar particle events or SPEs; reject “substorms”]

[10h] This moon leaves an ultraviolet “footprint” in the aurora of its parent body that is more prominent than that of any other orbiting body. This moon’s “plasma torus” supplies a flow of plasma to its planet, which exhibits permanent auroras around its poles.

ANSWER: Io

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Summary


California	Main	Y	5	20.00	100%	40%	60%
Canada	Main	Y	6	23.33	100%	50%	83%
Florida	Main	Y	13	14.62	100%	31%	15%
Great Lakes	Main	Y	6	15.00	100%	17%	33%
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main	Y	7	12.86	100%	14%	14%
Midwest	Main	Y	10	13.00	100%	10%	20%
North	Main	Y	11	14.55	100%	9%	36%
Northeast	Main	Y	5	12.00	100%	20%	0%
Overflow	Main	Y	4	20.00	100%	50%	50%
Pacific Northwest	Main	Y	12	12.50	100%	0%	25%
South Central	Main	Y	5	12.00	80%	40%	0%
Southeast	Main	Y	12	14.17	100%	25%	17%
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main	Y	8	12.50	100%	13%	13%
2025 ACF Nationals	2025-08-09	Y	14	14.29	100%	21%	21%
2024 ARCADIA at UC Berkeley	04/19/2025	Y	4	12.50	100%	0%	25%
California	Main	N	4	15.00	100%	25%	25%
Canada	Main	N	1	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Florida	Main	N	5	14.00	100%	20%	20%
Great Lakes	Main	N	1	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main	N	3	13.33	100%	33%	0%
Midwest	Main	N	7	12.86	100%	14%	14%
North	Main	N	3	20.00	100%	33%	67%
Northeast	Main	N	1	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Overflow	Main	N	2	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Pacific Northwest	Main	N	7	11.43	86%	0%	29%
South Central	Main	N	2	15.00	100%	0%	50%
Southeast	Main	N	4	12.50	100%	25%	0%
UK	Main	N	2	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main	N	5	12.00	100%	0%	20%
2024 ARCADIA at UC Berkeley	04/19/2025	N	1	30.00	100%	100%	100%

Data


Stanford A	Berkeley E	10	0	0	10
Stanford B	Berkeley D	10	10	0	20
Stanford C	Berkeley F	10	0	10	20
Berkeley B	UCSC	10	0	10	20
Berkeley A	Berkeley C	10	10	10	30
UCI	Claremont Pitzer	10	0	10	20
UCLA A	UCLA C	10	0	10	20
UCLA B	UCLA D	10	10	10	30
UCSB	UCSD Two Running Violet V Forms	10	0	10	20
USC	UCSD Vices and Virtues	10	10	0	20
Claremont Scripps	UCSD What Hath God Wrought	10	10	10	30
Guelph A	Toronto D	10	0	0	10
Carleton	McGill C	10	0	0	10
Queen's A	McGill B	10	0	0	10
McMaster B	Waterloo	10	0	0	10
Toronto E	Queen's B	10	0	10	20
Toronto A	McMaster A	10	10	10	30
Toronto B	Toronto C	10	10	0	20
Toronto G	Toronto F	10	0	0	10
Toronto H	Toronto I	10	0	0	10
Toronto Metropolitan	Toronto J	10	0	0	10
Toronto K	McMaster C	10	10	0	20
Western Ontario	Guelph B	10	0	0	10
Ottawa	McGill A	10	10	0	20
FIU	ERAU A	10	0	10	20
UF D	ERAU B	10	0	0	10
UCF A	FSU	10	0	10	20
UCF B	Melbourne A	10	10	0	20
UF C	UF A	10	0	0	10
UF B	UF E	10	0	0	10
CWRU D	MSU B	10	0	10	20
Pitt A	CWRU B	10	0	0	10
OSU D	Kenyon B	10	0	0	10
OSU A	Pitt B	10	0	0	10
OSU C	CWRU A	10	10	0	20
Kenyon A	Pitt C	10	0	0	10
CWRU C	MSU A	10	0	0	10
Virginia Tech A	James Madison	10	0	0	10
Liberty A	Clemson A	10	0	0	10
Virginia B	Liberty C	10	0	10	20
Tennessee B	North Carolina B	10	0	0	10
Roanoke	North Carolina C	10	0	0	10
South Carolina A	South Carolina B	10	0	0	10
Tennessee A	Liberty B	10	0	10	20
NC State	Tusculum	10	10	0	20
North Carolina A	Virginia A	10	0	0	10
Virginia Tech B	Clemson B	10	0	0	10
Maryland C	Johns Hopkins A	10	0	0	10
NYU A	George Mason B	10	10	10	30
NYU B	George Mason A	10	0	0	10
Georgetown B	Notre Dame E	10	0	0	10
Georgetown A	VCU A	10	0	0	10
Catholic University	Maryland D	10	0	0	10
UMBC A	George Washington A	10	0	10	20
George Washington B	Johns Hopkins C	10	0	10	20
Johns Hopkins B	George Mason C	10	0	0	10
Maryland A	Penn A	10	0	10	20
Maryland B	Penn B	10	0	0	10
Columbia B	Lehigh B	10	0	0	10
Lehigh A	Columbia C	10	0	0	10
Princeton A	Rutgers C	10	10	0	20
Rutgers B	Swarthmore A	10	0	0	10
Columbia A	Vassar A	10	0	0	10
William Woods	Truman State	10	10	0	20
SIUE	WashU B	10	0	10	20
WashU C	WashU D	10	10	10	30
Chicago A	Chicago B	10	0	0	10
Notre Dame A	Chicago C	10	0	10	20
Louisville B	Chicago D	10	0	0	10
Illinois A	Illinois C	10	0	0	10
Michigan A	Indiana A	10	0	0	10
Illinois B	Michigan C	10	0	10	20
Michigan D	Purdue C	10	0	0	10
Louisville A	Notre Dame B	10	0	0	10
Notre Dame D	Indiana B	10	0	0	10
Purdue A	Michigan B	10	0	0	10
Purdue B	Notre Dame C	10	0	0	10
Kentucky	UIC	10	0	10	20
Missouri A	WashU A	10	0	0	10
Carleton	Macalester A	10	10	0	20
St. Thomas	Macalester B	10	0	0	10
Iowa State	Minnesota C	10	0	0	10
Nebraska	Minnesota B	10	0	0	10
Wisconsin	Minnesota A	0	10	0	10
Amherst B	Brown A	10	0	0	10
BC B	Bowdoin A	10	0	10	20
BU	Bowdoin B	10	0	0	10
Amherst A	Brandeis Lloyd George	10	0	10	20
Brown B	Brandeis Orlando	10	0	0	10
Harvard	Dartmouth	10	0	0	10
MIT A	Cornell-UG	10	10	0	20
MIT B	Brandeis Wilson	10	10	0	20
Yale A	Tufts A	10	0	0	10
Yale B	Tufts B	10	0	0	10
Brown C	Williams	10	0	0	10
BC A	Brandeis Clemenceau	10	10	0	20
Alberta B	Ohio	10	0	0	10
Texas A	Rose State	10	0	0	10
Arizona State A	Texas B	10	0	10	20
Northwestern C	Tulsa	10	0	0	10
UCO	Arizona State B	10	0	0	10
Northwestern B	UTD A	10	10	0	20
Iowa	UTD B	10	0	0	10
Northwestern A	McGill D	10	0	0	10
Edinburgh A	Bristol B	10	0	0	10
Cambridge A	LSE B	10	0	0	10
Cambridge C	Imperial B	10	0	0	10
Durham A	Cambridge D	10	0	10	20
Birmingham A	City St George's A	10	0	0	10
Bristol A	Edinburgh B	10	0	0	10
Imperial C	Southampton A	10	10	10	30
LSE A	Lancaster A	10	0	0	10
Manchester A	Sheffield C	10	0	10	20
Warwick B	Manchester B	10	0	0	10
Oxford A	Durham B	10	0	0	10
Sheffield A	Oxford B	10	0	0	10
Cambridge B	Sheffield B	10	10	0	20
Warwick A	Southampton B	10	10	0	20
Cornell-DII	Binghamton A	10	0	0	10
RIT B	RIT A	10	0	0	10
ESF	Rochester	10	0	10	20
Syracuse	Binghamton B	10	0	0	10