Long before the 4th of July, the skies over America are filling with beautiful colors, courtesy of a massive solar storm — but before you get too awestruck by the beauty … Bill Nye the Science Guy has a warning.
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are normally only seen over places like Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia — extreme northern latitudes — but on Friday night the dazzling colors were seen dancing in the sky as far south as Texas and Alabama.
Speechless. pic.twitter.com/sZ3ILQku2T
— Nor’Easter Nate (@labry_de) May 11, 2024
@labry_de
The rare phenomenon really was a thing to see, and social media feeds were filled with the images everyone was capturing into the wee hours of Saturday morning.
The only reason the Northern Lights have dipped so far south is because the Sun is spitting out enormous solar flares .. the biggest since 2003.
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CNN
Sounds, and looks, super cool, right? Well, here comes the bad news — Bill points out those solar flares mess with Earth’s ionosphere, and while that allows folks in Alba, TX to see something normally reserved for Anchorage, AK … it also screws with our modern technology.
The Science Guy says the flares can jack up our communications, GPS, power grids and more. Now, he says there are systems in place to minimize the impact of the solar flares, but also warns “stuff might go wrong.”
The 2003 solar event caused power outages in Europe and Africa — but, so far, no major disruptions have gone down from this current blast from the Sun.
For now, kick back, hope for clear skies and enjoy the views … as NBC News anchor Steve Kornacki did while onboard a commercial flight.
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He posted a brilliantly hued image and said the captain came on the intercom to say: “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not everyday I get to say this, but if you look out on the left side of the plane right now you should be able to see the Northern Lights”
The show could continue into next week. Pretty freakin’ cool.
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