Canadians have a shot at seeing the northern lights this weekend, thanks to a series of solar ejections and storms over the past few days.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration鈥檚 , numerous were expected to impact Earth鈥檚 magnetic field on Thursday and Friday, culminating in a display of aurora borealis over Friday and Saturday nights. CMEs are large expulsions of solar matter from the sun's atmosphere, the corona, into space. When CMEs collide with Earth鈥檚 magnetic field, the result can sometimes be colourful auroras.
While the northern lights are only visible in Arctic regions, the cumulative effects of this week鈥檚 CMEs as well as a fast-moving stream of solar wind known as a coronal hole high-speed stream will make the phenomenon visible for people further south, as long as night skies are clear.
"We expect these disturbances to last through Friday and into Saturday, primarily at the minor to moderate level,鈥� the NOAA鈥檚 Space Weather Prediction Center wrote in a on Aug. 18. 鈥淭his should keep the aurora active but at a higher latitude than yesterday."
In the meantime, here is a taste of what people around the world have already seen thanks to this week鈥檚 solar storms.
