Keep an Eye on the Sky Tonight - 3 August

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Solar Storm a couple days ago present the chance for some cool Auroras tonight.

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...-storm-auroras/

[Hossage]

I hear the two best places to see the night sky east of the Mississippi are in the Cranberry Lake region and down in the Elk County region of Pennsylvania. Two places I like to find myself.

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I hear the two best places to see the night sky east of the Mississippi are in the Cranberry Lake region and down in the Elk County region of Pennsylvania.

 

Less light pollution in those areas

[Assquatch]

Why does it take so long to get to us? Aren't Sun burps electromagnetic radiation just like the light it gives off? That takes 8 minutes 20 sec to get here IIRC.

[Wacka]

It's plasma, ionized gas. The ionzed particles interacting with the different gases in the atmosphere give the different color. I saw the aurora twice in Buffalo (mid 70s and 1990 or 1991)

[DC Tom]

Why does it take so long to get to us? Aren't Sun burps electromagnetic radiation just like the light it gives off? That takes 8 minutes 20 sec to get here IIRC.

 

It's not just light; it's charged particles. The light takes 8 minutes, the protons and electrons take three-plus days.

 

It's plasma, ionized gas. The ionzed particles interacting with the different gases in the atmosphere give the different color. I saw the aurora twice in Buffalo (mid 70s and 1990 or 1991)

 

Actually, they interact with the magnetic field of the earth (charged particle in magnetic field undergoes accelleration and gives off radiation.) That's why aurorae are predominately seen at the magnetic poles.

[Zackry00]

I like cool areolas, it's too bad I missed em...