Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
A solar flare event could result in a good aurora show tonight and Friday across the north, although cloud cover may keep us from seeing it. Chuck Deer an emeritus professor of physics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute says the intense solar flare activity earlier this week was the largest in 4 years, a period during which the sun has been unusually quiet. Deer says the energy from the event takes a couple days to reach earth, but should fire up the aurora.
Deer says the northern lights will likely be brighter and visible from earth location much farther south than normal. Deer produces an online Alaska aurora forecast for the Geophysical Institute. It currently calls for active aurora. The spike in solar flare activity can also affect high frequency radio signals. Some commercial airliners have reported radio disruptions.
Download Audio (MP3)
