#aurora-borealis

#aurora-borealis

Heads up, Bay Area. The Northern Lights are back. After lighting up skies across Novato, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and San Rafael last night, the aurora borealis could return tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 12) thanks to a rare geomagnetic storm. When to look: 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. (best around midnight)Where: Look north and find a dark spot away from city lights.

A geomagnetic storm happens when charged particles from the sun's atmosphere interact with the Earth's magnetic field. In addition to creating dazzling displays of color, such storms can disrupt technology on Earth, from satellites and GPS to radio communications and the power grid. Tuesday's activity was the result of a phenomenon called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), massive blasts of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's outer atmosphere that grow in size as they hurtle towards Earth.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

From aurora borealis to the Milky Way to distant nebulae, cosmic phenomena induces wonder like little else. When faced with distant galaxies and the seemingly endless sea of trillions of stars-a trillion trillion, actually, known as a septillion-the sheer scope is impossible to grasp. The universe's workings may always remain a mystery. So it's no surprise that when peering up at the night sky, whether it's homing in on distant stellar clusters or simply watching the moon rise, photography helps us appreciate its enigmatic beauty.

Parts of the UK could be treated to a display of the northern lights across the night sky tonight thanks to recent solar activity. The Met Office forecast the effects of a coronial mass ejection - a burst of material from the sun into space - would result in the colourful displays across northern parts of the UK from Tuesday evening.