Geomagnetic storms brought northern lights to much of the US this week, painting the sky with vibrant shades of green and pink.
The northern lights were seen across a wide swath of states, including Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. The auroras were visible even in parts of Florida and Alabama, a relatively rare event that highlights the intensity of this week’s storms.
“Well, we had activity tonight — a lot of geomagnetic storm activity,” said Shawn Dahl, coordinator of services at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, in a video on the X channel.
A geomagnetic storm occurs when charged particles from the solar atmosphere interact with Earth’s magnetic field. In addition to creating dazzling displays of color, these storms can affect technologies on Earth, from satellites and GPS to radio communications and the power grid. The activity resulted from a phenomenon called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), massive explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s outer atmosphere that grow larger as they travel toward Earth.
Two CMEs hit Earth on Tuesday (Nov. 11), Dahl said.
The resulting storm reached G4 level, the second highest on NOAA’s five-level scale, and created a magnetic field that was “not only eight times stronger than normal, but… also favorable to continued activity,” Dahl said in a later update.
“This was the most energetic and intense activity in space,” Dahl said. “It was traveling significantly faster than the other two, and we believe it will have an even greater impact than what we’ve already experienced.”
The Space Weather Prediction Center states that the aurora could become visible “across much of the northern half of the country and possibly as far south as southern Alabama to northern California.”
The Met Office, the UK’s national weather service, reported that the northern lights could also be visible in parts of Britain on Wednesday night, though likely obscured by clouds — as happened in Michigan on Tuesday.
Fortunately, Americans in northern states won’t have to wait long for another chance to see it.
How to See (and Photograph!) the Northern Lights
A dark environment is essential for observing the northern lights, so it’s important to get away from light pollution if you want a good view of the phenomenon. The easiest time to observe it will be between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, according to NOAA.
It’s hard to predict the exact time and location of the northern lights, but you can sign up for various services that alert you when an aurora might be visible in your area. For example, a citizen science platform called Aurorasaurus allows users to report when and where they see an aurora and provides estimates of how visible it is in a given area.
Another option is an app called My Aurora Forecast & Alerts, available for download on iOS and Android devices. This location-based app provides viewing probability and forecasts.
Smartphone cameras are better at capturing the full range of colors in the northern lights than our eyes, so be sure to head out with your phone to see a more complete spectrum of colors. If your phone’s camera has a night mode, it’s best to enable it when photographing the northern lights. You can also switch your phone’s camera to manual mode and adjust exposure settings for the perfect photo.
Why Are We Seeing More Northern Lights?
Auroras have been occurring more frequently in the United States for some time and will continue for several months. This increase in bright colors happens because the Sun is reaching the peak of its 11-year cycle, and thus its solar maximum. Solar maximum causes solar flares, and this increase in activity brings ions, or electrically charged particles, closer to Earth. This flow of particles is known as the solar wind.
As solar winds approach Earth, the charged particles collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere. When they collide, they emit light at various wavelengths, creating a colorful spectacle in the night sky.
When the Sun is at solar maximum, the number of solar flares increases, which explains the greater number of northern lights in the sky. Normally, this activity occurs only near the Arctic Circle, but with current intense solar activity, viewing areas have expanded to other regions, like the US Midwest.
Source: npr.org by Achel Treisman and Mansee Khurana