2023-04-25 03:10:24
A strong solar storm has caused the northern lights to appear in skies much further south than usual.
An ejection of superhot material from the Sun last week hurled high-temperature gases known as plasma toward Earth at nearly 2 million miles per hour, the National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. of the United States (NOAA).
The Earth felt the impact of the storm on Sunday, according to NOAA, and meteorologists warned power plant operators and spacecraft of the possibility of disturbances.
Northern lights were reported in parts of Europe and Asia. In the United States, skygazers could see them in Wisconsin, Washington, Colorado, California, New Mexico, and even Arizona. They mainly saw a reddish glow instead of the typical green glow.
“I don’t want to create expectations that these green curtains” will appear in areas this far south, said Bill Murtagh, program coordinator at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Although conditions have abated, auroras could still be visible in areas as far south as Iowa and South Dakota late Monday and early Tuesday if skies are dark.
The further north, the better the show, as the energized particles interact with the atmosphere closer to Earth’s surface, according to Murtagh. The farther south the Earth’s curvature cuts through the more dazzling scenes, because the particles interact higher up in the atmosphere.
Murtagh explained that light pollution in Boulder prevented him from seeing the auroras on Sunday night. But there could be more opportunities as the solar cycle enters its most active phase.
“Stay tuned, there will be more,” he said.
This was the third large geomagnetic storm since the current 11-year solar cycle began in 2019, according to NOAA. The agency forecasts the cycle to peak in 2024.
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