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This time of year is great to see the Northern Lights dance

Also, keep an eye out for Saturn

Andrew Fazekas
The Gazette
Thursday, November 20, 2008

Evening skywatchers may be in for a post-Halloween treat with displays of ghostly lights dancing and twisting across the night skies. Late Autumn and early winter are some of the peak times for Aurora watching. No need for telescope or binoculars to catch this sky show – just look up. Now what could be simpler than that?
When streams of charged particles, known as solar wind, are thrown out by the Sun, they can be captured by the Earth’s surrounding magnetic field and enter the atmosphere, creating mysterious nighttime sky glows we affectionately call the Northern Lights. Most of the time these electrified solar clouds can produce harmless multicoloured light shows in the upper atmosphere. But strong storm fronts do have the potential to knock out satellite communications and even power grids.
You might remember back in March of 1989 more than 6 million Hydro-Québec customers were sitting in total darkness for hours because the Earth was hit by one of the most severe geomagnetic storms on record. West Island skywatchers at the time described seeing “flames or fires in the sky” with spectacular crimson colours.
How do you get to see auroras?
Your best bet is to look toward the northern horizon around midnight, when local skies are approaching their darkest conditions. Of course, the farther outside of the bright lights of the city you are, the better chance you have of seeing the more frequent, fainter displays. The northern lights are some of the most beautiful light shows Mother Nature has to offer and they are surprisingly frequent.
Planet parade: All month long, the evening star, otherwise known as planet Venus, shines brightly in the low southwestern skies with Jupiter following not far behind pinning down the southern sky to the left of the Goddess of Love. Watch these two worlds carefully over the course of the month as they slowly come together until they have a close encounter on Dec. 1. On that one evening, Venus and Jupiter will be only one full moon disc apart. A truly spectacular sight.
Meanwhile early risers can look forward to have the creamy coloured star-like Saturn dominate the eastern horizon at dawn all month long. But tomorrow the waning crescent Moon will park itself to the lower left of the Lord of the Rings, making for a pretty pairing in the morning sky.

You can log on to my website thenightskyguy.com to find out when the next aurora alert is issued by NASA when one of their sun-watching satellites detects an oncoming solar wind. Be aware though that predictions of these astronomical phenomena are still in their infancy, so there is no guarantee you'll see one when an alert is issued. A lot depends on how strong the incoming storm of particles is and how Earth's magnetic field is tilting at the time the cloud smacks into it. For skycharts and the latest stargazing news visit me at www.thenightskyguy.com