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The northern lights may be visible above New York tonight

Written by
Clayton Guse
Photograph: Courtesy CC/Wikimedia Commons/Svein-Magne Tunli
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New Yorkers might get a rare chance to see the aurora borealis tonight. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that increased solar activity on Monday has led to a geomagnetic storm, making the phenomenon visible much farther south than usual. Current projections show that the aurora (read: northern lights) will not be visible in the city itself but could light up the sky near Albany and parts of the state below. 

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Much to the dismay of astronomy nerds, cloudy weather and rain is in the forecast for much of New York State tonight. But if you do manage to scurry out of town and find a break in the clouds, you could be met by a glorious light show. The NOAA is projecting that the effects of the geomagnetic storm will continue into Thursday, so there's still a chance that the aurora will be visible upstate Thursday night as well.

If visible, the event promises to be even more marvelous sight than the partial solar eclipse that was visible in NYC last month (as well as those weird rainbow clouds that NASA was experimenting with earlier in the summer). 

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