The amazing aurora borealis caused by a massive solar storm lit up the world Friday night, sending multicolored sparkling lights into the skies as far south as Florida and the Bahamas, bringing astonishing joy to many eagerly watching. I showed you.
Good news for those who missed it. We might get another chance Saturday night.
“Overnight, we saw the Northern Lights across much of the United States. Weather permitting, we might see them again tonight.” The Space Weather Prediction Center said in an update Saturday morning..
The Northern Lights are only visible at night, and experts say it’s best to see them away from the hustle and bustle of city life to enjoy the best show. Still, Americans living in cities said they could see lights all night, including in metro Detroit.
People in Wisconsin could see lights dancing across the sky in shades of green and purple. Even residents of downtown Milwaukee could catch a glimpse of it, even though bright city lights obscured the view.
Clouds covered much of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area Friday night, but one social media user snapped a photo from downtown early in the morning that showed a faint purple flash above an apartment building.
See photo:Auroras appear in full force across the U.S. and Europe on Friday
Will we see the aurora on Saturday?
Maybe.
The Space Weather Prediction Center has provided experimental forecast maps showing that the aurora could be seen over a large area of the United States, possibly in states such as Oregon, Nebraska, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. Masu. However, visibility depends on changing factors such as weather.
What’s causing this weekend’s Northern Lights?
This spectacle is caused by magnetic storms originating from sunspots.
The storm was unusually strong and was classified as a top-level “extreme” (or G5) storm, the Space Weather Prediction Center announced Friday night. This is the first G5 storm to hit Earth since 2003.
The effects of the geomagnetic storm (not all as pretty as the aurora borealis) could linger into the weekend. The Space Weather Prediction Center said the storm was likely to continue into Sunday.
“There have been reports of power grid anomalies and degradation of high-frequency communications and GPS,” the Space Weather Prediction Center said in an update Saturday morning.
Where did you see the Northern Lights on Friday night?
Skies were clear across much of the United States and Europe, extending as far south as Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona.
Much to the dismay of many in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region, cloud cover dimmed or completely blocked the spectacular views.
Although rare, aurora borealis have been seen in the far southern United States in the past. This happens when particularly large coronal mass ejections reach Earth’s exosphere and cause geomagnetic storms, NOAA reports.
On the night of November 5th and 6th, 2001, the Northern Lights were visible in Texas and Arizona.
What causes the aurora borealis?
NASA describes the aurora as “a complex dance of objects and magnetism between the Sun and Earth.”
The sun’s activity causes strong electrical currents known as geomagnetic storms.
According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, these eruptions occur primarily in large, complex sunspot clusters. Sunspots, which increase and decrease on an 11-year cycle, are regions with a magnetic field approximately 2,500 times stronger than Earth’s.
The reason the aurora moves is because of how the sun’s ionized gases interact with the Earth’s magnetic field.
If you take a great photo, NASA wants to know about it
We are collaborating with the National Science Foundation and the New Mexico Consortium to collect aurora sightings and photos on our Aurorasaurus webpage.
Why were Friday’s aurora so red?
Mike Schiess, an extreme nature photographer and hurricane storm chaser in Florida, was shocked Friday night when he saw posts about how far people were seeing the northern lights. Amazingly, he was able to step out the front door of his home in Key Largo in the Florida Keys to see and photograph the Northern Lights. Hours later, he was still in disbelief and amazed at the colors of the aurora borealis.
“I’ve recorded aurora borealis in Iceland, North Dakota and the Canadian Arctic, but I’ve never seen them this red,” Tice said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen red.”
The multiple colors seen in the aurora are related to the types of gases colliding at different levels on Earth. According to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, auroras occur in the thermosphere, which is one of Earth’s upper atmospheric layers.
According to the research corporation’s website, the solar particles trapped there interact with various gas molecules such as nitrogen and oxygen. Oxygen gives off green and red light, and nitrogen gives off blue and red-purple light. For example, nitrogen gas glows blue at altitudes of 75 to 110 miles.
The less common red aurora is formed by interactions with high-altitude oxygen molecules, the website explains.
What is October 2003 Halloween Storm?
More than 20 years ago, in late October 2003, three gigantic sunspots appeared on the sun’s surface with little warning, accompanied by 17 large solar flares, according to the National Center for Environmental Information.
Satellite, radio, and GPS systems were disrupted around the world, causing some major disruptions. But it also provided great views of the Northern Lights, which extend as far south as California and Florida. People from Australia and other Mediterranean countries also got a glimpse of it.
Contributor: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
