Have you ever seen the beautiful aurora borealis, or the Northern Lights? According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, the aurora borealis is coming soon to a state near you. “Aurora watchers should be ready,” the Center said. That’s right, according to forecasts folks should be able to see these spectacular light shows Thursday and Friday as far south as Washington, Michigan and potentially the Rocky mountains in Colorado.
Resulting from an intense solar flare blast on Tuesday, these light particles will charge up the sky as they enter the atmosphere. While they cannot harm people, they can wreak havoc on electronic systems. “When intense enough – they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This disrupts the radio signals for as long as the flare is ongoing, anywhere from minutes to hours,” NASA said. So if your mobile devices and other communications start acting funny you’ll know why.
So what can you expect to see? The aurora borealis is typically seen as a green haze, but you might see red, blue and yellow tints depending on your environment.
Do you plan on hunting for auroras tonight?
Featured image: Aurora Hunter by Deryk Baumgärtner
via CNET