New Englanders were treated with a colorful show of the northern lights on Friday night after a solar storm that hit the earth on Friday.
The lights, technically known as the Aurora Borealis had covered a stretch across the sky into parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts on Friday night, and into the early Saturday morning hours after an a solar storm caused by the interaction of the solar wind, a stream of charged particles escaping the Sun and the earth’s magnetic field and the atmosphere.
According to Chris Smith a forecaster for the Space Weather Prediction Center the storm left the sun on Wednesday and first arrived on Earth at 9:55 a.m. EDT will continue to disrupt the magnetic field through Saturday, and It will likely only be noticed by specialized equipment.
He said the wave was the biggest since June last year to have hit the Earth.
Areas as far south as Seattle; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago; Cleveland and Albany, New York, were expected to see the northern lights also on Saturday nights depending on the weather and lighting conditions.
Below are some live tweets and pics of the Aurora Borealis as it was happening.
Happening NOW @MWObservatory! #nh #aurora #AuroraBorealis #mwobs #mountain #vista pic.twitter.com/RqxHvUOD86
— Ryan Knapp (@WXKnapper) September 13, 2014
My coworkers and I @MWObservatory watching the Aurora @ 2200EDT tonight. #AuroraBorealis #aurora #nh #mwobs pic.twitter.com/Q83mRgo9LW
— Ryan Knapp (@WXKnapper) September 13, 2014
A beauty from Casco Maine. Thanks Jim Hall. #MEwx pic.twitter.com/CHY30jqnOz
— Charlie Lopresti (@CharlieWGME) September 13, 2014
One of the best #Aurora photos tonight from the Rangeley Lakes Region. Thanks Kyle Haley. #MEwx pic.twitter.com/ICdvMtsiCd
— Charlie Lopresti (@CharlieWGME) September 13, 2014
The #AuroraBorealis has finally arrived in #VT pic.twitter.com/gYyzzOtfXr
— WeineckPhotography (@WeineckPhoto) September 13, 2014
@pbouchardon7 Some weak aurorae. Note developing curtains and possible homogeneous arc, coincident with KP=7. pic.twitter.com/Wf9KUpBEEs
— Matthew Cappucci (@MatthewCappucci) September 13, 2014
