Labour Day weekend this year could include a light show, depending where you live and what the weather is like in the next couple of days.
Those who live in northern parts of our country are accustomed to the sight, but this weekend, even people living in the northern U.S. to take a look at aurora borealis.
“As a result of recent geomagnetic storm activity, the photogenic sights will be widely visible across much of the southern half of Canada and as far south as several northern U.S. States,” said a story Friday from The Weather Network.
The information comes from the U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is forecasting the light show for this weekend.
The most optimal time to view the aurora is a couple hours before or after midnight under a clear, dark sky, the story said.
“Whether or not Canadians in the southern parts of the country will see it depends on their location and weather conditions at the time of the displays.”
The Northern Lights occur when electrically charged material from sun flares are blown by solar wind into space and collide with gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere, lighting up when they come into contact with the magnetic fields at the north and south poles.
Spacecraft monitoring eruptions from the sun look for the flares, which take between one and three days to reach Earth.
Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common colour is a pale yellowish-green produced by oxygen molecules located above the Earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.
–Sudbury.com