The Northern Lights may change locations again once the Sun continues to have consistent active solar storms.
The beautiful sky full of colors may return to backyards around June 6th to 9th.
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The Sun rotates around its axis every 27 days, so we have not been affected by the recent solar storms, but as it returns and consistency remains – there is a chance the event could repeat itself.
A large solar flare was recorded by the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft on May 20 – it occurred behind the sun.
It was classified as X12, which has not occurred since September 2017 and scientists believe this is a sign that there will be more solar flares.
Ryan French, a solar physicist at the National Solar Observatory in Boulder, Colorado, announced the big explosion on X, formerly Twitter.
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“Great flare!” French he said in X.
“Although not visible from Earth, ancient AR 13664 (responsible for recent solar storms) has just launched its biggest eruption yet!
“Measured by the Solar Orbiter probe behind the Sun, the explosion is estimated to be class X12.
“This explosion also caused a huge CME behind the Sun.”
HOW IT WORKS?
Solar flares are caused by a huge sunspot 15 times larger than Earth.
Sunspots are caused by the sun’s intense magnetic activity and solar flares are caused by the sudden release of energy stored in the sun’s magnetic fields.
This creates a “solar storm” that can hit Earth if the sunspot is facing Earth.
French also recently discussed how the sunspot would be visible from Earth again on June 6.
The sunspot will be visible during the new moon, which is what happened during the last solar storm and is how we were able to see the change in the aurora borealis so clearly.
The new moon makes the sky darker because there isn’t as much moonlight.
ANOTHER PERFECT ALIGNMENT
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It has been predicted that this could be the perfect setting to see the Northern Lights again.
“It will line up perfectly,” French said Live Science on Tuesday.
“As soon as the sunspot starts to appear, we will enter the window of opportunity [for viewing auroras].”
Earth is most affected by solar storms when the sunspot reaches the middle of the Sun, as seen from our planet.
“That’s exactly where it produced all those big explosions,” French said.
However, we could still be affected if another solar flare is as intense as it has been.
“But in theory, if we had a large enough flare, even if it was to the left of the center of the Sun, we could still get the edge of that impact.”
There is a possibility that solar flares will continue to occur from sunspots in the following months as well.
This means there may be more chances of spotting the Northern Lights outside of its usual location.
WHERE WILL IT BE VISIBLE?
According to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, the aurora will be visible in some areas of the US, Europe and Canada.
In Canada, this includes Inuvik, Yellowknife, Rankin, Iqaluit, Juneau, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Sept-Iles, Vancouver, Great Falls, Pierre, Madison, Lansing, Ottawa, Portland and St. Louis.
The aurora borealis may be visible in the northernmost parts of the US west of Michigan – this includes Washington, Michigan, Oregon, Montana and North Dakota.
In Europe, they may be visible in Norway, Sweden, Trondheim, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki.
Auroras – how do they work?
Here’s NASA’s official explanation…
- The dancing lights of the auroras provide spectacular views of the ground, but they also capture the imagination of scientists who study the energy and particles arriving from the sun.
- Auroras are an effect of these energetic particles, which can leave the Sun either in a constant stream called the solar wind or due to giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs.
- After a journey toward Earth that can last two to three days, solar particles and magnetic fields trigger the release of particles already trapped near Earth, which in turn trigger reactions in the upper atmosphere in which oxygen and nitrogen molecules release photons of light.
- The result: the northern and southern lights.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
