Look Up! Northern Lights Could Make Rare Appearance Over Bucks County

By Justin Heinze:

The Northern Lights are kicking up again this week in several parts of the country, thanks to impressive solar and geomagnetic storms.

The brilliant auroras made their appearance Monday night on the heels of the summer solstice. As Slate.com explained it:

“On Sunday, the summer solstice, a major explosion on the sun propelled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth at about 4 million miles per hour. It then swept up two smaller, slower coronal mass ejections from last week, creating one big smorgasbord of geomagnetic exuberance. The whole mess reached Earth on Monday afternoon with a bit more energy than expected.”

The storm clouds didn’t quite make it to Philadelphia Monday night, but the auroras have a good chance of returning to the area on Tuesday, according to the Rittenhouse Astronomical Society.

If you’d like a more scientific explanation for the neon-colored lights, The National Weather Service explains it in greater detail.

If you have photos, please send them to [email protected], along with your name and a brief description of where you were when you took them. Use the subject line “Northern Lights.”

The geomagnetic storm was classified as a G4 – for comparison, if the auroras were tornadoes, they’d be classified as powerful F4s – and it rivals those seen in March.

The dazzling color show could be seen across North America and northern Europe, and it rivaled some of the best Northern Lights shows in years. The lights could be seen as far south as New York City, Chicago and Portland, OR, and even people in places like Oklahoma City and Charlotte, NC, may have seen a dull glow on the horizon.

Also on Patch: Look Up in the Sky As Venus and Jupiter ‘Collide’

It might not be all fun and skygazing, The Washington Post reports. Potential effects on Earth include voltage control issues in power systems and high- and low-frequency radio system. Satellites may need to be righted for orientation.

Below is a collection of videos and pictures of the display from around the nation:

Photo credit: Explore Minnesota and Rittenhouse Astronomical Society