Keep an eye on the skies starting Friday night for what could be a dazzling display of nature—or not, depending on your location and weather conditions.
An unusual amount of solar flare activity means that the northern lights (also known as the northern lights and southern lights, depending on the hemisphere) could appear in the sky as an arc of green light.
If you are in a place with a lot of bright lights, like a city, it will be difficult to see anything. And then there are other complications, like the weather.
The Northeast is likely to be covered in clouds Friday night. In the Midwest, skies could be clear after a storm system passes through.
With this intensity of solar storm activity, the lights may be visible as far south as northern Alabama and Georgia, where night skies are expected to be relatively clear.
However, the Plains and Southern Rockies could have relatively poor viewing conditions.
On the west coast, conditions should remain relatively cloud-free, which could make for good viewing.
Some of the lights may also be visible outside the United States, in places like Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia.
In some parts of Britain, there is a good chance the lights will be visible, according to the country’s Space Weather Operations Centre.
“With clear skies forecast, there is a good chance of seeing the Aurora in the northern half of the UK,” the agency said on social media.
In fact, images of the lights over England just before midnight local time began appearing on social media, including photos from London, despite the city’s light pollution.
A tip: If you’re in a clear area, even south of where the aurora is forecast, take a photo or video with your cell phone.
The camera sensor is most sensitive to the wavelengths produced by the aurora and can produce an image that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Why is this happening?
A severe solar storm is approaching.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a rare warning Friday after a solar flare hit Earth.
As nuclear reactions occur in the sun, it routinely ejects material from its surface.
Officials said solar activity could cause power outages or interfere with navigation and communication systems.
Emissions can affect satellites orbiting near Earth as well as ground infrastructure, causing disruptions to navigation systems, radio communications and even the electrical grid.
It sounds alarming but don’t worry.
The warning is not really aimed at the general public, so go about your day as you normally would. (Except maybe look at the night sky a little more.)
“Most people here on planet Earth won’t have to do anything,” said Rob Steenburgh, a space scientist at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “If everything works as it should, the network will be stable and they can continue with their daily lives.”
When does this happen?
Material ejected from the sun could reach Earth’s atmosphere on Friday afternoon or evening, officials said.
“What we expect in the coming days should be more significant than what we’ve seen, certainly so far,” Mike Bettwy, chief of operations for NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, said at a news conference Friday.
What is burning?
We are currently experiencing a level 4 (severe) solar storm.
According to NOAA, there have only been three storms of that level since 2019. Its announcement was even rarer: It had not issued such a warning since 2005.
By the way, it is not the highest level solar storm. There is also level 5, extreme.
The current storm is caused by a group of sunspots: cold, dark regions of the solar surface. The cluster burns and ejects material every six to 12 hours.
“We anticipate that we’re going to have one shake after another over the weekend,” said Brent Gordon, chief of the space weather services branch at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
Katrina Miller and Judson Jones contributed with reports.