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Re: (meteorobs) Aurora question
Hi -- Pennsylvania is certainly a likely spot for aurora-spotting tonight.
The geomagnetic field has calmed somewhat since the shock wave first hit,
but if you are in a dark-sky area and look north around midnight, I'd say
there is a decent chance of seeing something.
Regards, Tony
webmaster, SpaceWeather.com
At 11:18 PM 9/25/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Newbie question from someone who's never seen northern lights:
>
>A recent spaceweather.com e-mail mentions that tonight's possible northern
>lights have the potential to be seen at unsually low latitudes. Any idea if
>this includes east-central Pennsylvania? Stated another way, should I bother
>keeping an eye out?
>
> > AURORA ALERT: An interplanetary shock wave spawned by Monday's powerful
> > solar explosion swept past our planet at approximately 2100 UT (2:00 p.m.
> > PDT) on Tuesday, Sept. 25th. The solar wind velocity soared from 400 km/s
> > to more than 800 km/s in a matter of minutes as the shock wave sped by.
> > Earth is still inside the resulting high-speed solar stream and auroras
> > are possible tonight even at low latitudes where such displays rarely
> > happen. Sky watchers are advised to look for Northern Lights after local
> > sunset. Local midnight is usually the best time for aurora spotting but if
> > a powerful geomagnetic storm develops bright auroras might be visible at
> > any time of the night.
>
>
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