Another coronal mass ejection from the sun could make the Northern Lights visible again over parts of New England on Friday evening. Even if the aurora’s geomagnetic glow doesn’t light up the sky over Massachusetts, there’s still a spectacular chance to see another solar phenomenon. Three weeks ago, a solar storm erupted from a huge cluster of sunspots, making the colorful glow of the aurora borealis more powerful and visible further south than normal. Skywatchers in Massachusetts saw beautiful green and pink colors in the night sky. The same cluster of sunspots orbited the sun and is now back in view of Earth. It produced a strong, long-lasting eruption Wednesday morning, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center. In anticipation of material from that coronal mass ejection reaching Earth, the SWPC has issued a G2-level Geomagnetic Storm Watch. This is significantly weaker than the G5-level storm that brought the Northern Lights to Massachusetts earlier this month, but strong enough to potentially make the aurora visible over parts of the United States. “The aurora may become visible over some northern and upper Midwestern states, from New York to Idaho,” the SWPC said. Skies over Massachusetts are expected to be mostly clear tonight, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem likely that the force of this event will create the same kind of show for our region as last time. However, anyone who still has a pair of solar eclipse glasses left over from that April miracle can go outside today and watch another solar spectacle. When viewed safely through eclipse glasses, the sunspot from which the recent solar flare erupted can be seen as a dark dot on the sun.
Another coronal mass ejection from the sun could make the Northern Lights visible again over parts of New England on Friday evening. Even if the aurora’s geomagnetic glow doesn’t light up the sky over Massachusetts, there’s still a spectacular chance to see another solar phenomenon.
Three weeks ago, a solar storm erupted from a huge cluster of sunspots, making the colorful glow of the aurora borealis more powerful and visible further south than normal. Skywatchers in Massachusetts saw beautiful green and pink colors in the night sky.
The same cluster of sunspots orbited the sun and is now back in view of Earth. It produced a strong, long-lasting eruption Wednesday morning, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.
In anticipation of material from that coronal mass ejection reaching Earth, the SWPC has issued a G2-level Geomagnetic Storm Watch. This is significantly weaker than the G5-level storm that brought the Northern Lights to Massachusetts earlier this month, but strong enough to potentially make the aurora visible over parts of the United States.
“The aurora may become visible over some northern and upper Midwestern states, from New York to Idaho,” the SWPC said.
Skies over Massachusetts are expected to be mostly clear tonight, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem likely that the force of this event will produce the same kind of spectacle for our region as last time.
However, anyone who still has solar eclipse glasses left over from that miracle in April can go outside today and see another solar spectacle.
When you safely view the sunspot from which the recent solar flare erupted through eclipse glasses, you can see it as a dark dot on the sun.
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