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Northern lights may be visible across parts of the US this weekend. Why are they so active right now?


A series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun have the potential to create dazzling auroras that may be seen as far south as Alabama and Northern California but also disrupt communications on Earth tonight and over the weekend, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Scientists observed at least five coronal mass ejections, or large clouds of ionized gas called plasma and magnetic fields that erupt from the sun’s outer atmosphere, releasing from the sun in the direction of Earth. These significant outburts are expected to arrive as early as midday Friday and continue through Sunday.

The peak of the geomagnetic storm activity for Earth will be between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET on Saturday, according to the center’s forecast.

The center referred to this as “an unusual event.”

In reply to sgtdjones Didnt know of this phenomenon until a decade plus ago, as I was tutoring my bwoy English Comprehension. There was this passage of a few paragraphs followed by about 5 questions. Of course, I had to read the passage before & answer the questions before I had him do it!


Ps. Scientific name: aurora borealis! I called him over & he did remember the stuff!

In reply to sgtdjones

Man, I thought it was a China event, until further reading!

In reply to XDFIX



Some Pictures posted by Canadians