Best Time To See Northern Lights Tonight

 Northern Lights Tonight

Dazzling auroras delighted sky-gazers Tuesday night, even in southern US states such as Florida where they rarely make an appearance — and more colorful displays are expected again Wednesday as solar storms unleashed by the sun continue to reach Earth.




Strong geomagnetic storm conditions — triggered by intense solar flares — are ongoing, the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center has reported. Currently classified as G3 on a scale from 1 to 5 to indicate severity, the event could reach severe, or G4, conditions with a chance of more extreme solar weather, according to the center. There is a chance that auroras will be visible as far south as Northern California and Alabama, according to the center.

A G4 is also predicted for Thursday, and the northern tier of the US could see auroras tomorrow evening as well, said Shawn Dahl, forecaster at the center.

In addition to creating auroral displays, geomagnetic storms can disrupt communications, the power grid and satellite operations. The Space Weather Prediction Center said it notified power grid and satellite operators in the US so they can prepare. Meanwhile, operators in the United Kingdom are closely monitoring solar activity as well in case of potential impacts.

“Our data suggests that this event could be one of the biggest storms we’ve seen in 20 years,” said Dr. Gemma Richardson, hazard specialist at the British Geological Survey.

The British Geological Survey believes the current solar activity could lead to a G5, or an extreme geomagnetic storm — the highest level. The survey also dubbed Tuesday’s event a “cannibal storm” that disrupted communications and GPS satellite accuracy.

“On Monday, two Coronal Mass Ejections lifted off the sun a few hours apart,” the survey’s geomagnetism team explained in an email. “The first one was moving more slowly than the second … and so the second one caught up with the first one and they amalgamated together by the time they reached Earth. Hence, the term ‘cannibalised’, as the second one gobbled up the first one.”

“Although we are still in a period of heightened solar activity, we are entering the decay phase of the solar cycle,” French said. “(Although) sunspots and solar flares are fewer during this time, this is the period where the strongest solar flares typically occur.”

Increased solar activity causes auroras that dance around Earth’s poles, known as the northern lights, or aurora borealis, and southern lights, or aurora australis. When the energized particles from coronal mass ejections reach Earth’s magnetic field, they interact with gases in the atmosphere to create different colored lights in the sky.

Forecasters at the Space Weather Prediction Center believe that the arrivals of the first two of three anticipated coronal mass ejections caused Tuesday evening’s auroral display.