Our area was treated to the most impressive northern lights display in about 7 years Monday night thanks to an intense solar storm called a CME (coronal mass ejection) that lit up the upper levels of the atsmosphere.  The brilliant light show was seen all across the country, even as far south as Arkansas and Washington, D.C.  Here’s a link to Space Weather’s story about the CME including a better explanation of the science behind the colors.  http://spaceweather.com/

http://www.astronomycafe.net/qadir/q1899.html

Picture from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Here’s a video from London, Ontario of the aurora.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0ICrthbu4E

Posted under Astronomy

Tonight (8/6)..we have a chance to see some scattered thunderstorms, but if the skies can stay clear, we also have the chance to see something that is kind of rare in our area….the Northern Lights!!  A large storm on our Sun is the cause of this.

Solar flares are ejected from the sun and thrown into outer space.  The energy from this hits the magnetic field around the Earth and excites oxygen and nitrogen molecules high in the Earth’s atmosphere.  The end result is beautiful streaks of color that dance across the sky called the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights.  This atmospheric phenomenon rarely makes it this far south, but during strong solar storms, such as our current one, they most certainly can.

So we are hoping for clear skies tonight, if we get them, here our a couple of tips.

First, patience is a virtue.  They come in bursts, there could be nothing going on for some time and then all of a sudden they will appear so you may have to sit aside a couple of hours to view them.

Second, try to get away from as much light as possible, the light will hurt the viewing.

The best time to view is around midnight and a couple of hours before and after.

For us, the northern lights will be seen lower in the atmosphere than in higher latitudes.  Even with all of these measures in place we still may not see them..its the luck of the draw, but there is a chance.  If you do see them, send us some pictures on our facebook page at facebook.com/KTTCweather or e-mail us at weather@kttc.com.  I was trying to post some pictures, but there is something wrong with our server.

GOOD LUCK!

Posted under Astronomy, Earth Stuff, just cool, Rochester, Space Weather, Uncategorized

While I’m not overly optimistic we’ll be able to see this, it’s worth a shot! Tonight, go outside and look north. If we’re lucky, we’ll be treated to a showing of the Northern Lights, or, the Aurora Borealis.

On Sunday, a solar flare and large coronal mass ejection (CME for short) from the sun sent a chunk of energy toward earth.

“This eruption is directed right at us, and is expected to get here early in the day on August 4th,” astronomer Leon Golub said in a statement from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “It’s the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time.”

Courtesy of NASA. The dark arc you see on the upper right is part of the CME, and the bright spot is a solar flare.

So, in return, there’s a possibility for some beautiful, wave-y colors to strike tonight. The light displays are caused by interaction with the particles of solar energy and the earth’s magnetic field. Typically seen at the higher latitudes, the scale of this sun storm will give the northern tier (Maine to Michigan and further north!) of the United States a good chance to see them.

Solar storms are cool to the eye, but bad news for all our sensitive technology (power grids, satellites included). Forecasters are not expecting this storm to be severe enough to negatively impact aforementioned objects.

There’s evidently a second, slower wave that will arrive August 4th-5th. That could give us another viewing opportunity. My suggestion? Keep your eyes to the northern skies overnight this week!

Posted under Space Weather