Stargazers and sky watchers in Michigan were treated to an impromptu display of the northern lights on Monday. These lights often appear during geomagnetic storms in the temporal zone. Astronomers say some may be visible tonight, but the accompanying storm is waning. If the auroras do reappear, it won't be as dazzling.
What are the northern lights?
The lights are created by electrically charged particles colliding in the atmosphere. They occur with geomagnetic storms or coronal mass ejections. The lights are best seen at latitudes 10 to 20 degrees from the magnetic poles. Near the South Pole, the lights are referred to as aurora australis. They normally appear around the equinoxes.
What do the lights look like?
The aurora borealis is often mistaken for some kind of forest fire lighting the sky. It generally appears as bands or curtains of hazy, glowing or undulating light. The lights may look like whorls or vortexes. They appear to hang or hover in the sky and pulsate.
What are common colors?
If the lights are green or brownish-pink. These are ionized oxygen emissions. Red and blue lights occur from nitrogen emissions. In order of appearance, green, pink, green and red in combination, pure red and yellow are the most common. Pure blue lights are the rarest. Monday's display included some of the rarer bursts of solid red.
Are aurora borealis viewings common in Michigan?
Areas of Michigan, especially in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, get fairly frequent displays. The Great Lakes, particularly Lake Superior, make a good staging area for displays of the northern lights.
Will the lights be visible tonight?
Space Weather says the geomagnetic storm is wearing off, but it could be visible. To track aurora borealis displays, follow Space Weather.
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about people, places, events and issues in her native Michigan.
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