[meteorite-list] Strange Lights Seen Over Northern California

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:27:52 2004
Message-ID: <200311211720.JAA19176_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/21/BAGFP37MQQ1.DTL

Strange lights in the night sky make for wide eyes
Jose Antonio Vargas, Key Davidson
San Franciso Chronicle
November 21, 2003

Was it the Northern Lights, shooting stars -- or both?

It depends which federal agency you ask.

According to the National Weather Service, the "red ball of light"
described by frantic callers to radio programs and police stations
throughout the Bay Area Thursday night was the aurora borealis, better
known as the Northern Lights, rarely seen this far south. It was visible
across the country.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, however, it was a part of the legendary
Leonid meteor shower, as tiny rocks burn up while plunging from space. It
should have peaked before dawn Nov. 19, said Joshua Taylor, a petty officer
with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Whatever it was, it freaked out thousands of wide-eyed people who saw it
from coast to coast.

If you buy the aurora hypothesis, then you're blaming the sun, like Steve
Markkanen of the National Weather Service. The sun has been throwing
quite a fit recently, spewing out electrically charged particles that make
Earth's upper atmosphere glow spookily like a silk scarf or a child's
balloon when you electrify it by rubbing it in the dark.

Thanks to "a real strong burst of energy from the sun," said Markkanen, a
meteorologist, "it's sending charged particles to the Earth in great
numbers, interacting with the planet's magnetic field."

As the particles rain down on the North and South Poles, they excite atoms
in the upper atmosphere, causing them to emit light. In the Northern
Hemisphere, the result is a continent-sized, roughly donut-shaped glow
that surrounds the North Pole.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on its
Web site Thursday that the geomagnetic storm activity during the previous
24 hours was "extreme," the worst possible rating. Typically, the site
notes, "extreme" geomagnetic storm activity can mean that people as far
south as Florida and southern Texas can see the light. It could affect radio
transmissions and disorient space satellites. By Thursday evening, however,
the rating had decreased to "strong," two stages below "extreme." In
"strong" geomagnetic storms, light can be visible as far south as Illinois
and Oregon.

By contrast, if you buy the meteor hypothesis, then you're blaming a
shower of dirt from the sky, most of it particles smaller than bacon bits.

Richard Garbe was sure it was a meteor. "I thought, 'Holy Toledo! Look at
that bright light!' It streaked across the sky like a meteor," said Garbe, 39,
who was driving home on southbound 101 to San Jose in his pick-up truck
with a co-worker. He said it went on for "about two to three seconds."

The Leonid meteor shower occurs every year toward the end of November.
Received on Fri 21 Nov 2003 12:20:45 PM PST