Get ready for a rare night sky light show!
Over the past few days, the Sun has emitted a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), bursts of charged solar material with embedded magnetic fields. CMEs happen all the time, especially when the Sun is near the maximum period of its 11-year solar cycle, as it is now. Most of the time they fly into space at strange angles, but sometimes they fly towards us.
When they do, and if their magnetic fields are properly oriented, CMEs cause geomagnetic storms that affect electrical and communications equipment, including orbiting satellites, and light up the night sky in technicolor. According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, Oct. 16. Earth will be affected by several CMEs. They should be mostly harmless, but will increase geomagnetic activity, which just might make the northern lights stronger.
What are the Northern Lights?
Aurora Borealis
Auroras, commonly known as the southern and northern lights, are visual spectacles that occur when charged particles flow along magnetic field lines and interact with atoms in the atmosphere. Just as electrons flowing through a fluorescent light bulb create colored light, charged particles flowing through the atmosphere light up the night sky with, so to speak, neon colors.
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When charged particles hit oxygen or nitrogen atoms, the atoms become excited. When they relax into their natural state, they emit light, and the time it takes for this to happen is known as their lifetime. Each color of the aurora is produced by charged particles interacting with oxygen or nitrogen at different energy levels.
The red glow is produced when oxygen is excited to the singlet D stage, which is confined to altitudes above 180 miles. This is because it takes about two and a half minutes for a single D oxygen to relax and emit a photon. At lower altitudes, atoms collide with other atoms, dampening the excitation until a photon can escape. Greens, meanwhile, are produced by oxygen excited to the singlet S stage, which relaxes for only about a second, so it can be found lower, at altitudes of 80 to 250 miles.
Less commonly, auroras may have purple bands produced by nitrogen with little change in excitation and emission. Violets exist between 80 and 120 miles. In total, the lights form a ring, or oval, around the planet’s magnetic poles, and tonight that ring may reach the northern part of the United States from Washington to Maine.
How to see the Northern Lights from your backyard
Aurora forecast
As with real estate, the northern lights are all about location, location, location. They are usually confined to high northern latitudes, but occasionally can be seen from much further south, especially when CMEs increase geomagnetic activity in the atmosphere.
Geomagnetic storms are measured on a five-point scale that goes up to G5 (extreme), during which power and communications systems can be overwhelmed, and the northern lights can be seen as far south as Florida. October 16 in the evening we look at G2 (intermediate level) CMEs that have left the sun since October 11th. until October 13, courtesy.
Geomagnetic storm watch
If you want to see the storm for yourself, it helps to be as close to the poles as possible. Geomagnetic activity pushes auroral activity closer to the equator, but the view is always better the further north you are. Tonight, October 16, the aurora can be seen in the United States from Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
Wait until it gets dark. Bright lights, both natural and artificial, wash out the aurora. Fortunately, the Moon is a thin crescent, only about 20% illuminated, and won’t cause much of a problem. Although the northern lights are an atmospheric phenomenon, they occur at high altitudes, well above the cloud line, meaning bad weather can spoil the show.
If your sky is clear, dark, look north and wait at least 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. The best viewing is usually in the hours before and after midnight. This is your chance to see one of the most spectacular shows on Earth for one night only. At least until the next geomagnetic storm.
Speaking of life-changing views in the sky, check out Jordan Peele’s Nope, now streaming on SYFY.