The northern lights could illuminate skies further south than usual this week due to a solar storm that could affect Earth, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
The center has issued a strong geomagnetic storm warning, known as G3 — the third highest level of five — for July 29-31. Activity may have peaked on Tuesday (30), when solar flares and coronal mass ejections that cause auroras reach Earth, according to NOAA.
Strong geomagnetic storms are infrequent, the Space Weather Prediction Center said, but they are more common than extreme geomagnetic storm G5, which occurred on May 10 and 11. This event triggered auroras that enchanted many places around the world that normally don’t see the colorful, dancing ribbons of light.
If predicted G3 conditions occur, auroras could be visible as far south as the US states of Illinois and Oregon, the Space Weather Prediction Center said.
Coronal mass ejections are large clouds of ionized gas called plasma and magnetic fields that erupt from the sun’s outer atmosphere. When these explosions are aimed at Earth, as happened this weekend, they can cause geomagnetic storms, or large disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field.
As the sun approaches solar maximum — the peak in its 11-year cycle of activity, expected this year — it becomes more active, and researchers have observed increasingly intense solar flares erupting from the fiery orb.
In the United Kingdom, the Met Office said on Monday (29) that the auroras could be visible in Scotland until Thursday night (1st), with the chance of a G3 level storm. In Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology said the arrival of a coronal mass ejection on July 30 could result in “significant geomagnetic activity and visible auroras during local nighttime hours.”
Observing auroras is a game of luck, but the phenomenon is most likely to be seen between one and two o’clock in the morning, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.
For the best vantage point, find a place with dark skies away from artificial light and look north (or south in the Southern Hemisphere). Cameras can capture auroras even when the naked eye cannot. To get the best photo, use a tripod and share your observations with NASA’s community science and partner website, Aurorasaurus.
What causes the Northern Lights?
Increased solar activity causes auroras that dance around the Earth’s poles, known as aurora borealis, when they occur in the northern hemisphere; in the south, the name given is aurora australis.
When energized particles from coronal mass ejections hit Earth’s magnetic field, they interact with gases in the atmosphere to create lights of different colors in the sky.
The solar storm that hit Earth in early May was the strongest in two decades, according to NASA. The avalanche of solar activity created one of the strongest displays of auroras recorded in the last 500 years, with auroras visible in the southern United States and northern India.
Sunspots, which release solar flares and coronal mass ejections that trigger auroras, are driven by the star’s strong and constantly changing magnetic fields.
Alerts issued by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and other agencies help operators of power grids and commercial satellites mitigate potential negative impacts from a solar storm.
May’s geomagnetic superstorm had minimal impact on critical infrastructure, however, a G5 storm that occurred in 2003 resulted in blackouts in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.
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