Northern lights may be visible from several US states Friday and Saturday as giant hole opens up in sun’s atmosphere
Sky watchers are in for a treat this week, as the Northern Lights are expected to grace the skies of several northern U.S. states — and it’s all thanks to a large hole that has opened up in the sun’s atmosphere.
Auroras could be visible as far south as Idaho and New York Friday evening (April 17) and early Saturday morning (April 18), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center shared in a statement. Facebook post.
Most particles are deflected by the geomagnetic shield that surrounds our planet. However, some get carried away Earth’s magnetic field before descending towards the North and South Poles.
Once there, the particles collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, causing them to heat and fluoresce to create the colorful light shows we know as the aurora borealis.
This week, a large hole appeared in the solar corona, the outermost part of its atmosphere. “Coronal holes” like this are regions where the sun’s magnetic fields open up, allowing the fast solar wind to escape into space, according to Spaceweather.com.
The resulting high-speed winds can also interact with the slower solar winds ahead of them, causing these clouds of charged particles to build up. This creates a shock zone called the corotating interaction region (CIR) that can have a more dramatic impact on particles in Earth’s atmosphere.
This week’s high-speed solar winds and accompanying CIR are expected to reach Earth on April 17-18, after which they will likely cause a temporary disruption of the planet’s magnetic field, known as a geomagnetic storm, according to NOAA Three-Day Forecast published on April 16. Moderate storm conditions (G2) are expected from 5 p.m. EDT (9 p.m. GMT) Friday until around 2 a.m. EDT (6 a.m. GMT) Saturday and could trigger minor to moderate radio outages and strong aurora.
Auroras resulting from this class of geomagnetic storm are often visible from Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin, according to NOAA. Sky watchers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Wyoming also have the chance to witness one of nature’s best light shows.
A new moon Friday will also allow for better viewing conditions in darker skies.
If you’re looking for aurora, be sure to check the information from NOAA. aurora dashboard for live updates as space weather forecasts are subject to change.
