Space weather alert

[petrea_mitchell]

Our sun has been busy this week hurling gobs of plasma in this direction, meaning there will be aurorae visible tomorrow night as far south as Northern California. Usually the Portland area is scheduled for cloudy weather when there's something interesting going on in the sky, but this time the sky is going to be nice and clear.

I guess they probably won't be visible in suburban areas, though, and we might be distracted by other things. Here's an astronomer trying to sound reassuring:

Because of the intensity of the storms, it’s likely that disturbances of the Earth’s magnetic field will result in communication disruptions and possible power outages over the weekend, McKeegan said.

“Don’t be surprised if ... your favorite TV station isn’t working right or your cell phone isn’t working for a little while, but generally, things should recover pretty quickly,” he said. “It’s just Mother Nature reminding us who’s boss.”

Comments

[joseph_teller]

Good To know. Thanks for passing this along.

Well!

[lsanderson]

In general, look for pale green curtains or veils moving across the northern sky. Best seen outside of city lights, and pale green is only the most frequent color. They can appear other than in the north, but it's rarer. When faint, they can resemble a thin cloud layer covering the stars, except that they dance and move like no wind can move clouds. You can download Aurora forecast apps for your phone.