Science

Explosion of solar energy will create Northern Lights in parts of the US and Canada tonight


An explosion of solar energy is set to hit part of Earth Wednesday night, sparking aurora borealis activity in parts of Canada and the United States.

The activity will start around 4PM and will last for a 24-hour period, with peak times to view the Northern Lights from 10PM to 1AM ET.

This stunning display will be created by space particles from a minor geomagnetic storm, which enters our planet’s ozone layer and illuminates the night sky.

According to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, ‘Weather permitting, highly active auroral displays will be visible overhead from Inuvik, Yellowknife, Rankin and Iqaluit to Juneau, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Sept-Iles in Canada.

There will also be low visibility on the horizon from Seattle, Des Moines, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and Halifax across the US.

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Norther Lights will start around 4PM and last for a 24-hour period, with peak times viweing from 10PM to 1AM ET. This stunning display will be created by space particles from a minor geomagnetic storm, which enters our planet’s ozone layer and illuminates the night sky

Norther Lights will start around 4PM and last for a 24-hour period, with peak times viweing from 10PM to 1AM ET. This stunning display will be created by space particles from a minor geomagnetic storm, which enters our planet’s ozone layer and illuminates the night sky

Usually the best place to view aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, is at high altitudes during the winter.

This includes areas of Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia, but this display will be overheads parts of the United States tonight.

And a clear night sky is needed to see the colorful show.

The aurora borealis is created by electrically charged particles from the sun hitting the Earth and colliding with the atmosphere.

Highly active auroral displays will be visible overhead from Inuvik, Yellowknife, Rankin and Iqaluit to Juneau, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Sept-Iles in Canada, with be low visibility in Seattle, Des Moines, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and Halifax across the US

Highly active auroral displays will be visible overhead from Inuvik, Yellowknife, Rankin and Iqaluit to Juneau, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Sept-Iles in Canada, with be low visibility in Seattle, Des Moines, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and Halifax across the US

WHAT ARE AURORAS AND WHAT TRIGGERS THE STUNNING NATURAL DISPLAYS?

The Northern and Southern Lights are natural light spectacles triggered in our atmosphere that are also known as the ‘Auroras’.

There are two types of Aurora – Aurora Borealis, which means ‘dawn of the north’, and Aurora Australis, ‘dawn of the south.’

The displays light up when electrically charged particles from the sun enter the Earth’s atmosphere. 

There are two types of Aurora - Aurora Borealis (file photo), which means 'dawn of the north', and Aurora Australis, 'dawn of the south.' The displays light up when electrically charged particles from the sun enter the Earth’s atmosphere

There are two types of Aurora – Aurora Borealis (file photo), which means ‘dawn of the north’, and Aurora Australis, ‘dawn of the south.’ The displays light up when electrically charged particles from the sun enter the Earth’s atmosphere

Usually the particles, sometimes referred to as a solar storm, are deflected by Earth’s magnetic field.

But during stronger storms they enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles, including hydrogen and helium.

These collisions emit light. Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are common.

The collision generates energy, which creates the light that makes the aurora visible.

Northern lights are usually displayed as a striking green, but they can range from red to pink or blue to purple.

Oxygen at about 60 miles above the ground gives off the green-yellow color and oxygen at higher altitudes (about 200 miles above Earth’s surface) creates all-red auroras.

And nitrogen in different forms produces the blue and red-purple light.

Another ‘rare celestial event’ will be visible in the night sky on Friday as the alpha Monocertoid meteor shower is set to be at its most impressive since 1995.

The shower is the result of the Earth passing through the tail of a mysterious comet and will see meteors moving at 140,000 miles per hour.

Northern lights are usually displayed as a striking green, but they can range from red to pink or blue to purple. Such as the one seen earlier this year over fjords in Norway

Northern lights are usually displayed as a striking green, but they can range from red to pink or blue to purple. Such as the one seen earlier this year over fjords in Norway

Another 'rare celestial event' will be visible in the night sky on Friday as the alpha Monocertoid meteor shower is set to be at its most impressive since 1995, which is also known as the 'Unicorn shower'

Another ‘rare celestial event’ will be visible in the night sky on Friday as the alpha Monocertoid meteor shower is set to be at its most impressive since 1995, which is also known as the ‘Unicorn shower’

Also known as the ‘Unicorn shower’, the meteors will appear in the sky in the area of the Monoceros or Unicorn constellation – near Orion the Hunter.

If the show is as big as the 1995 shower it will be one to watch, say Esko Lyytinen and Peter Jenniskens, the meteor experts who predicted the bigger outburst.

If the sky is clear you will be able to witness the shower from about 11:50PM ET on the 22nd of November in South America, the eastern parts of North America, western Europe and west Africa.

There will be up to 400 shooting stars visible over the course of about an hour, or about seven per minute.

 



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