Canada is in for what should be a strong showing of the northern lights this weekend. (File Photo/ ID 63881102 © Jasse Hast Dreamstime)

By Ronald Quaroni

Strong Aurora

First weekend of fall could bring high activity of northern lights across the country

Sep 25, 2019 | 12:19 PM

Eyes should be pointed skyward this weekend during the evening as a spectacular show is soon to be presented.

A significant portion of the country as well as northern portions of the U.S.A. are in for a viewing of the northern lights according to The University of Alaska Fairbanks Aurora forecast, which predicts high activity for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

(Submitted Photo/The University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Melville-based James Edgar, a past president of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, explained the phenomenon is a must see.

“If you have an opportunity to see it, don’t pass it up because it’s a wonderful thing to watch,” Edgar told paNOW. “If you go out and you just keep your eyes open, the whole thing is constantly moving all over. Snapshots can’t capture that.”

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Edgar explained northern lights occur when a solar flare from the sun sends particles toward Earth. After a couple days, once those particles reach the planet they spiral down the magnetic field lines. As they spiral, they lose energy and give off photons and light, which cause the aurora.

Canadians are very lucky, according to Edgar, as the country is one of the best places in the world to view the starry show.

“The magnetic North Pole is in Canada and it’s more energetic where we live believe it or not,” he said.

The stars continue to align for what should be a brilliant showing of the lights.

Environment Canada is predicting mostly clear conditions for the weekend and a change in the moon cycle should make for perfect viewing Saturday night.

“I believe it’s a waning crescent moon on Friday night which means you’d still be able to see a sliver of the moon but then not expecting to see any [moonlight] for Saturday night,” Kyle Fougere, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada said. “That means very dark skies, and should there be aurora [activity] it should be very bright.”

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Ron.quaroni@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @RonaldQuaroni