Most people have heard of aurora borealis also known as The northern lights. This is an amazing phenomenon that very few people get to experience. This is when you can see waves of light dancing through the sky. Now for once in a lifetime people will be able to see the northern lights as far as Kentucky. Normally this wouldn’t be possible due to the fact that the necessary conditions are normally only in places around Iceland, Canada, and Alaska. This is due to their possession in relation to the sun. To Explain the northern lights are the result of something called a geomagnetic storm.

A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance in the Earth’s magnetosphere due to a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment around the sun. All this extra exchange of energy causes lights to dance across the sky. At the source of the event, we have a solar storm that creates solar wind. A solar storm is when the sun emits huge amounts of electrons and protons in the form of solar flares. These Solar flares cause solar wind which causes a huge amount of extra protons and neutrons to travel through space to Earth’s atmosphere. These solar flares can be predicted by looking at the sun’s solar cycle. The solar cycle is a cycle of changes that the sun’s magnetic field goes through approximately 11 years.

Normally the earth’s magnetic field moves the excess protons and electrons toward the top of the planet. Yet for some reason, the earth’s magnetic field wasn’t able to move all the excess energy to the north. This could be due to a larger amount of excess energy from the sun hitting the earth than usual. Another cause could be the earth’s magnetic field being altered due to the earth’s core slowing down. Currently, the earth’s inner core is slowing down and scientists can tell why they do know that this started occurring in 2009. Many scientists agree with the thought that the slowing core could alter the magnetic field. Which in turn lowers the earth’s ability to move the excess electrons making it to where you can see the northern light where they’ve never been seen before. So with the science behind you, set your chairs outside and enjoy the lights.