{"id":18821,"date":"2017-09-06T21:30:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T13:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/red-vs-green-solar-flares-could-power-northern-lights-above-our-smoky-skies\/"},"modified":"2017-09-06T21:30:29","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T13:30:29","slug":"red-vs-green-solar-flares-could-power-northern-lights-above-our-smoky-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/red-vs-green-solar-flares-could-power-northern-lights-above-our-smoky-skies\/","title":{"rendered":"Red vs. green: Solar flares could power northern lights above our smoky skies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Solar
An extreme ultraviolet image of the sun, captured by NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows an X9.3 flare erupting at lower right. (NASA \/ Goddard \/ SDO Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sun has been acting up this week, and normally that would produce auroral displays bright enough to see in Washington state.<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t a normal week: Western skies have been obscured by wildfire smoke, and although westerly winds are expected to push out a lot of that smoke overnight in the Seattle area, it\u2019s debatable whether northern lights will be visible.<\/p>\n

One solar flare, rated as a moderate M5 on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s space weather scale, generated a wave of electrically charged particles that is now sweeping past Earth. That produced the conditions for a strong geomagnetic storm.<\/p>\n

The most noticeable effect would be heightened auroras, and NOAA\u2019s Space Weather Prediction Center said northern lights could be visible along the northern tier of the United States.<\/p>\n