Enjoy Aurora Borealis in the Sky Tonight !!

WASHINGTON (GaeaTimes.com) — Skywatchers at high latitudes could be in for a spectacular treat of northern lights, the Aurora Borealis on Tuesday and Wednesday night. The sun’s surface erupted on Sunday, blasting tons of ionized atoms (plasma) into space. These atoms have formed a kind of solar tsunami and are heading towards earth.

The solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory , which captures high-definition views of the sun at a variety of wavelengths. When a coronal mass ejection reaches Earth, solar particles stream down our planet’s magnetic field lines toward the poles. In the process, the particles collide with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere, which then glow, creating an effect similar to miniature neon signs.

Views of aurora are usually associated with Canada and Alaska, but now, even people in the northern U.S. mainland are being told they can look toward the north Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for rippling “curtains” of green and red light. The best time would be around 10:30 or 11:00 tonight.

The last solar maximum activity occurred in 2001. The latest minimum activity was particularly weak and long- lasting. The most recent solar eruption is one of the first signs that the sun is waking up and heading toward another maximum.