If you live in the northernmost United States, you might be able to see something rare in the night sky tonight: the Northern Lights. Thanks to a particularly strong solar flare due to hit the Earth tonight, the Northern Lights will be visible much further from the poles than they normally are.
On Monday, the sun released a large coronal mass ejection (CME), which for the past two days has been making its way to Earth. While very large CMEs could damage electronics or knock satellites out of orbit, this one is just strong enough to put on a strong light show.
That light show will extend to cover most of New England, upstate New York, Wisconsin, Michigan, Wyoming, and most of Washington State. If you live in or near those areas, it might be worth taking some time to check out the sky tonight.
Source: Space.com
