The Northern Lights Could Be Visible Across the Northern U.S. This Weekend. Here ’s How to See the Aurora

Parts of the northern United States from Montana to northern New England could get a glimpse of the Northern Lights over Labor Day Weekend, space weather forecasters say. The Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis, are a luminous and sometimes colorful display seen in the night sky. They occur when charged particles from the sun interact with gasses in Earth’s atmosphere. Typically, they are only visible in higher-latitude regions, including Alaska, Scandinavia and Iceland, and even then only in the darker winter months. But a geomagnetic storm predicted for this weekend could result in aurora sightings further south in places where they’re not typically seen. Here is what you need to know about the Northern Lights, and where to try and view them this Labor Day weekend: What are the Northern Lights? The Northern Lights are brilliant and often colorful displays created when particles emitted from the sun interact with Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, colliding with gases like oxygen and nitrogen, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. As they collide, they gain energy, which they later release, creating the magnificent light shows we call the Northern Lights. (In the southern hemisphere, the same process results in the Southern Lights, or the aurora australis.) The Northern Lights typically appear colorless or with a greenish-yellow hue. But occasionally, pink, red and even purple lights can be spotted. Either way, the...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized onetime Science Space Source Type: news