Tricksy critters those lights.
Northern Lights Put on Amazing Show
November 9, 2004
By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Justin Consor
Skywatchers across a large part of the U.S. were treated to a rare, brilliant display of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, on Sunday night. Monday night brought less widespread activity, but the next few nights may again be ones for the record books.
Auroras develop when electrically charged particles from the sun, strike atoms of oxygen and nitrogen, discharging particles known as photons that look red or green to the human eye. In a nutshell, the atmosphere works like a huge neon sign.
Solar flares fling the charged particles through space. It takes a day or two for them to arrive, steered to the northern latitudes by the Earth`s magnetic field. As such, the Northern Lights are most often visible in a belt around and just south of the Arctic Circle. In the U.S., Alaska is most likely to see the Northern Lights, followed by the northern belt of states from Washington to Maine.
Very strong solar flares can produce geomagnetic storms, which cause the Northern Lights to intensify and push farther south than normal.
An extreme geomagnetic storm, which began around 5 p.m. EST on Nov 7th, has subsided. At its peak, the storm produced Northern Lights as far south as California, Oklahoma and North Carolina on Sunday night. On Monday night, the Northern Lights were seen in the northern tier of the U.S.
Although solar flare activity has declined since Sunday, vivid displays of the Northern Lights are again possible across the northern and central U.S. on Tuesday nights.
The ironic aspect of this aurora borealis is that the overall solar activity is declining as a solar minimum approaches.
.....Westy.....