What the?
You don't have to go to Alaska to see the Northern Lights?
This Saturday, the United States could see a spectacular Northern Lights phenomenon that, according to the Center for Space Weather Forecasting (SWPC), could cover most of the United States, including some parts of Massachusetts!
The Northern Lights are a peculiar luminescence phenomenon produced by the interaction of energetic particles released by the sun with elements such as nitrogen and oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. The flare event is expected to peak Saturday night, distorting the Earth's magnetic field and making the Northern Lights more visible on Earth.
The SWPC has issued a rare "G4" level storm alert, which means that the Earth may be affected by a strong geomagnetic storm. This kind of alert has hardly happened in the past decade or so, so this phenomenon is truly unusual.
This giant sunspot AR3664, it is one of the largest sunspots seen in decades. AR3664 is nearly 200,000 kilometers wide and about 15 Earth in size!
While there may be some clouds in the Massachusetts sky, in other areas, one can expect to see this spectacular sight on Saturday night. It is worth mentioning that the SWPC will sound the alarm about half an hour before the sun erupts, giving people some time to watch the spectacle.
For now, the Massachusetts area is expected to be cloudy Saturday morning, especially near the coastline. Overall, for most people in southern New England, there is a good chance that the sky will be clear or mostly clear!
So you can look forward to the Northern Lights!
What do you think about this?