(SNES) Spectacular Northern Lights Over Southern Rhode Island

["Les Coleman" <les11@cox.net>]

Hi Everyone,

I hope if you read this in time (about 7PM) that you will quickly get to a window or go
outside and look to the north. That huge reddish cloud isn't a  cloud at all but the Aurora
Borealis (Northern Lights). A huge sunspot (#484-2003) emitted a secondary pulse of a CME
(Coronal Mass Ejection) yesterday. We are luckily placed to see these particles hit the
Earth's magnetic field generating millions of watts of power. Most of this power is ripping
apart water molecules, leaving charged hydrogen (which glows red).

You may see blue (mostly ionized oxygen) and green (ionized nitrogen). If you see yellow or
white lines, these re areas where the ionized hydrogen/nitrogen or ionized hydrogen/oxygen
are nearly in balance and give us the impression of secondary color. I saw streaks of this
when I first went out.

The aurora isn't limited to the extreme northwest. The sheets reach out over us beyond the
zenith and even could be seen a bit south  of overhead.

Les
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