Solar ‘gale’ should make northern lights visible over the weekend

Some unusual solar activity is causing a geomagnetic storm on Earth, making conditions ripe for some northern lights viewing this weekend.

Dominion Radio Observatory astronomer Ken Tapping says it’s not a really big solar storm, but more of a “solar gale.”

“Sometimes a big magnetic loop on the sun explodes and sends a big chunk of material at us. That’s a solar storm,” he says.

“What’s happening at the moment is the magnetic lines on the sun have just sort of opened up and are letting everything out. A solar gale I suppose is a good way of describing it,” Tapping says.

Tapping says the condition should result in a good chance of seeing the aurora borealis over the next two nights.

“It probably won’t be mind blowing, but there will be some moderate auroral activity worth looking at for the next couple of days,” he says.

Environment Canada is calling for mainly to partly cloudy conditions tonight in Kamloops and the Okanagan, but skies are expected to clear by Saturday night.

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