ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the past four nights in a row, Rochester has been treated to one of Mother Nature’s most amazing phenomena, the Northern Lights. But what exactly are the Northern Lights, and how do they work?
It all has to do with interactions between the sun and earth’s magnetic field. Earth’s outer core is comprised of liquid metal, and as it spins it creates a magnetic field that acts as an invisible barrier to the stream of charged particles coming from the sun, known as the solar wind.
The magnetic field directs some of the solar wind towards the earth’s north and south poles, and as it enters the atmosphere, it reacts with different kinds of molecules at different altitudes to create different colors. These colors are what we perceive as the Northern Lights. Since this usually only happens near the poles, we almost never see them.
However, if there is a strong enough outburst of solar wind from the sun, the Northern Lights can travel far enough south to put on a show for us. That’s been the case the last four nights in a row. Unfortunately, that may not be the case tonight. We are expecting the lights to barely reach Maine, not south enough to be visible in Rochester.
It is important to note however that the Northern Lights can be tricky to predict, so if you want to take the chance to go out and see them anyways, the best place would be along the lakeshore away from the city. Even if you don’t see them tonight, we will likely have more chances going into next year. We are currently in a solar maximum; that is, an 11 year cycle of heightened solar activity that often results in more frequent and more intense Northern Lights.
First Alert Weather In-Depth: How do the Northern Lights work? WHEC.com.
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