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Aurora Borealis Likely To Be Visible In Southern NY and PA Tonight
New submitter chromaexcursion writes "Several news source are reporting the likelihood of an impressive show of the Aurora Borealis visible as far south as Washington D.C. this evening. Accuweather explains: 'On the Kp index, the flare has been categorized at 6 to 8. This is a scale for measuring the intensity of a a geomagnetic storm. The 6 to 8 rating means that the effects of the radiation will have a greater reach. ... The radiation from such a flare may cause radio wave disturbances to electronics such as cell phones, GPS and radios, causing services to occasionally cut in and out. While traveling slower than was originally anticipated, the flare effects are moving towards Earth at 1000 km per second. ... The lights are currently estimated for 8 p.m. EDT Saturday arrival, with a possible deviation of up to seven hours.' Check the map; if you're in a fair-to-good zone, head out after sunset to see the show."
Just checked from the roof of a 22 story bulding, the view North is over East River, but nothing to be seen there. I guess New York is not famous for astronomy discoveres with all the smog and lights.
The first impact of the CME has hit and the boulder Kp is hovering around 3. Watch it here.and here. Here in southern Minnesota, Kp has to hit 6 before we see anything. 5 up on the Canadian border. Good luck spotting those unicorns!
Obi-Wan: "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were sudden
Hitchhiked a ride in Alaska; we were as outback as you can get
when the driver hit the brakes and pulled to the side of the road.
Scary a$$ stuff when you hitching a ride, but the driver saw the lights.
Pitch black, and not a sound could be heard as we were in the middle of nowhere.
We got out and watched them for awhile; they were like high speed clouds, rushing over us to swirl,
disappear, and repeat, no color these were just white, thus the cloud reference.
But the three of us can say we've heard the Northern Lights.
If you waited for it you could hear them, very subtle but very neat.
This was before public Internet and hard for others to accept, but now you can
find (google) many others who have heard them as well.