A strong solar storm is expected overload the northern lights on Friday, with forecasts indicating that auroras could be seen as far south as Alabama.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center said Thursday that a series of solar flares and flares could trigger strong geomagnetic storms and “spectacular aurora displays” on Earth from Friday night through the weekend.
It was the first warning of a severe geomagnetic storm the agency issued since 2005.
“We have a rare event on our hands,” said Shawn Dahl, services coordinator at the federal government’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.
O Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, come from charged particles that are expelled from the sun during solar storms. The colorful displays are created when clouds of these energetic particles collide with Earth’s magnetic field and interact with atoms and molecules in the planet’s upper atmosphere.
The northern lights typically illuminate the night sky at high latitudes, but during intense periods of solar activity, they can be seen further south than usual.
O Space Weather Prediction Center Forecast said it’s possible Friday night’s auroras could be seen “as far south as Alabama and as far north as California.” dawn panel which provides short-term forecasts of the Northern Lights. If conditions are clear, auroras are best viewed in dark places and away from city lights.
However, amplified northern lights shows are not the only byproducts of strong solar storms.
Solar flares release clouds of plasma and charged particles, called coronal mass ejections, into space. When directed at Earth, geomagnetic and solar radiation have the power to disrupt communications and electrical grids on Earth and interfere with satellites in space.
The Space Weather Prediction Center said Thursday that it has “notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective measures.”
The center said several “moderate to strong” solar flares have been detected since Wednesday morning, adding that at least five flares and their associated coronal mass ejections appear to be aimed at Earth.
“Additional solar flares could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend,” it said in a statement.
The sun goes through 11-year cycles, from minimum to maximum activity. The current cycle, which started at the end of 2019, is predicted to peak with maximum activity in July 2025according to forecasts from NOAA and NASA.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
