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Didn�t catch the aurora? It may repeat Solar flare�s eruption Monday could mean more spectacular skies By Melissa Martin Rogue Valley residents may be dazzled again by aurora borealis, or the northern lights, after Monday�s eruption of the most powerful flare in the current solar cycle. Anyone who missed Friday night�s colorful light show should watch the skies in the coming nights. "The chances in the near future that something like that could happen again are pretty good," said science teacher Gary Sprague, director of the North Medford High School planetarium. The biggest barrier to seeing the northern lights again will be cloudy skies, said Dave Bloomsness, president of Southern Oregon Skywatchers. "These can last for up to a week," Bloomsness said of the solar flares. Weather forecasts predict clearing skies tonight and Thursday, but it will be chilly at night. The powerful geomagnetic storm that raged for more than 24 hours last weekend dazzled sky watchers as far south as Mexico, according to a NASA Web site. "For this latitude, we really got a show," Sprague said. Then on Monday, the sun erupted with its most powerful flare in 25 years. It was even more powerful than the March 1989 flare that caused a power grid collapse in Quebec. "No calamities are likely this time, however, because sunspot 9393 is near the sun�s west limb; the bulk of the explosion was directed away from the Earth," according to a Web site posted by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A solar flare is an explosion on the sun that happens when energy stored in twisted magnetic fields is suddenly released into space. When the charged particles travel through space and hit earth�s magnetic field, it causes the upper atmosphere to ionize and glow, Sprague said. He chanced upon the glowing lights when he stepped out of his house about 10 p.m. Friday. "There were a lot of reds, and definitely greens and blues, especially later on when it moved to the south. It almost looked like somebody way off in the distance had a spotlight up in the clouds, but you realized there were no clouds. "As it faded away, you realized the stars were out." From his Medford vantage point, Sprague first saw the lights by Roxy Ann Peak, then watched them move north, east and south. While he has seen northern lights this far south once before, he�s never seen such a colorful, varied display. Bloomsness, who also saw a less spectacular aurora borealis here eight years ago, saw Friday�s show about 10:30 p.m. His friends in the Mojave Desert also reported a dazzling view. "The whole eastern sky was bright red," Bloomsness said. "It looked like a sunset at the wrong time of the night on the wrong side of the sky." As the lights changed and moved, Bloomsness saw a subtle, greenish grow. Others described the lights as looking like a slow-moving, red mist. "We don�t get them often down here," he said. To find out more, visit www.spaceweather.com on the Web. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.