Night Lights and Stuff

courtesy of NBC news, Boston

Naturally, I missed out on the unusual (for Boston) aurora borealis show last night/ultra early this morning. Why? I was unaware that it was gonna happen. Also too, I was sleeping during prime viewing hours (10PM – 2AM). It was the first solid night’s rest I’ve had in a month and it was awesome!

What is this particular sky magic?

The northern lights are created when energized particles from the sun slam into Earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph (72 million kph), but our planet's magnetic field protects us from the onslaught. (source)

The lights are usually only seen in the latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees—Iceland, northern parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, Canada and Alaska as well as southern Greenland. What brings the light show to those of us well south of Alaska? Recently, there was a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Coronal mass ejections? Sounds kind of skeevy, like the abusive antics von ShitzInPants gets up to.

In any case, I'm still glad I slept.

Meanwhile, here are some assorted memes and comix which have caught my eye.