Cape Ann Alert!!! Let me explain what the following GIF image means. The sun has shot out an X Class Flare rocking the geomagnetic field up to “Storm” level. This is sort of like the band Spinal Tap turning their amps up to Eleven!
The left hand gif shows the central sun puking out a giant burst of color heading towards that little yellow dot. That’s earth.
Tonight, get to a northern exposure and check out the Northern Lights. Halibut Point, hike out there. Or for the lazy just park in the Lobster Pool parking lot and look to the north. One can never predict how these flares will actually impact earth but tonight and maybe even Thursday night might be a good show.
You can always enjoy the full moon if there is nothing going on and the bummer is that the full moon will dampen the view of the Northern Lights. But if you do see them imagine these charged particles slamming into us at 4 million miles per hour.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Thanks Paul. Do you have a time frame?
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It looks like the full blast is Thursday evening. It might be better to get out there just after astronomical twilight (7:16PM) since the moon will be lowest. It’s a full moon so it will start to wash things out.
One also might try 4:30-5 plus AM tomorrow since the moon sets at 5:18 and the sun won’t be up until 6:10AM. Some predictions are calling for the storm to last into Friday AM.
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Thanks for the heads up Paul. Last really god show I saw was on a Sept night while streaming to the Eastern to some fishing grounds in the late 60’s. It was so magnificent that instead of sleeping after my watch I glazed at the shimming color sky till dawn. And I remember seeing comet West like a beacon in the sky in th eastern horizon before dawn point toward the unseen sun, tail spreading outward Truly God gifts.
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I remember Comet West. My father dragged us out and stared for hours from the top of the hill on Woods Hole Golf course. That whole winter seemed to have Northern Lights. It must have all been amazing out to sea without the lights of the east coast dimming it all.
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full of great information.. thanks
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Thank you for explaining so well Paul!
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great post! great site march 8-9 11 m class and 3 x flares in 48 hours! have to see something? hope not 🙂
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Just photographed the sky, hoping to get some flashes, but nothing so far…good full-moon-rising pic through trees, though. Cannot post it here, and probably too boring for primetime…but fun to try…
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Keep us posted if yall get anything. Ill be up there tomorrow night to check it out.
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Actually, information on how the Northern Lights work can be found in many places. If I want to see them, the most important bit of information is what time should I drag myself out of bed to see them. I really don’t want to miss it.
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Lanesville was smoking on Monday night. GAAC has the pics (just google gaac).
http://www.aurora-service.org/aurora-forecast/
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What time were the N. Lights Mon. night? Do you think they will show tonight also? Thank you.
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