Aurora Alert for northern US and Canada. “Residents of Canada and the northern United States should be on the alert for aurora borealis during the night of March 5 and morning of March 6. The best time to view aurorae is usually around local midnight. Tonight’s new moon will make even faint activity easy to see. Early on March 5, 2000, the interplanetary magnetic field measured by NASA’s ACE spacecraft developed a significant southward-directed component. This condition often means that solar wind plasma can penetrate Earth’s magnetosphere and trigger aurorae. …If this high level of activity continues, auroral displays could be visible as far south as the Great Lakes states and in New England.”