Wednesday, April 7, 2010 as of 11:14 AM ET
An aurora (plural: aurorae or auroras) is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere).
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A powerful flare erupted from the sun Thursday, Jan.
19, unleashing a plasma wave that may supercharge the northern lights for skywatchers in high latitudes this weekend.The solar flare occurred at about 11:30 am EST (1600 GMT) and touched off a massive solar explosion — known as a coronal mass ejection — aimed at Earth, space weather experts and officials said. The charged particles from the sun explosion should reach Earth by Saturday night (Jan. 21), and could amp up northern lights displays when they hit the upper atmosphere."Forecasters say strong geomagnetic storms are possible when the cloud arrives during the late hours of Jan. 21st. High-latitude (and possibly middle-latitude) sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend," the skywatching website Spaceweather.com announced in an alert.Several space telescopes recorded photos and video of the solar flare, including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). [ Photo and video ...The luminous aurora displays that make up Earth's northern lights may get a boost Monday night from a fresh eruption on the sun. Skywatchers in the northern latitude...
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Get our expert's tips on traveling to Iceland, experiencing its long, dark days and the wonder of its spectacular sky.
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