The Northern Lights will be visible in the US this evening. Here’s how to watch it.
Northern Lights for Martin Luther King Jr. Day show, brings a beautiful light display across several states of the US. Here’s how to view the aurora borealis this week.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), this week’s Northern Lights will be visible on Jan. 19 and continue until the next day in other places. Still, it’s best to catch the aurora on Monday if you can, as it won’t be as bright later in the week. Those at higher elevations will have a better chance of seeing the aurora, although the remarkable strength of this week’s display means the Northern Lights can be seen as low as Alabama and northern California.
This wide range of visibility is because Monday’s Northern Lights were caused by the largest solar radiation storm in more than 20 years, resulting in a particularly powerful aurora. The SWPC issued a severe G4 geomagnetic storm warning in response, warning that it could cause widespread problems with the power grid, and that GPS navigation and high frequency radio could also be down for hours. Infrastructure workers and authorities have been informed about the expected disruption.
Fortunately, the SWPC says there isn’t much the general public needs to do to respond to a geomagnetic storm. All you need to do is stay alert and, weather permitting, search for the aurora.
Credit: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Forecast Center
How to get the best view of the Northern Lights
The easiest way to see the Northern Lights is to simply go outside at night and look up. Auroras can be seen from more than 600 miles away under the right conditions, so it’s worth checking them out even if you’re a little outside of the predicted visual area. However, if you’d like to give yourself the best conditions for viewing the aurora, there are a few factors to keep in mind.
Mashable Light Speed
According to the SWPC, the best time to see the Northern Lights is between 10 pm and 2 am, as the level of geomagnetic activity increases during this time. This is also the darkest time of night, providing the strongest contrast with the bright Northern Lights to make them more visible.
Choosing a viewing area with as little light pollution as possible will improve your experience. A Certified Dark Sky area near the US-Canada border would be a good choice, as they have all been tested and noted for having minimal light pollution. If you can’t get to one, just try to reduce the light pollution where you are.
What causes the Northern Lights?
While auroras do occur in the Earth’s atmosphere, they are actually the result of solar activity.
When a solar flare or coronal mass ejection occurs in the Sun’s atmosphere, large amounts of plasma and magnetic fields are ejected from the outer layer of its atmosphere. This creates a high-speed solar wind, or solar storm, that can travel through space to reach Earth. Depending on the nature of the sun’s activity, the trip to Earth can take a few minutes or as long as several days.
When a solar storm reaches Earth, most of it is reflected back into space by the Earth’s magnetic field. However, not everything is thrown away. Some charged ion particles enter the magnetic field, and travel to cooler areas on Earth where said field is weakest.
The charged ions then collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms, creating a chemical reaction that emits light: the aurora. The Northern and Southern Lights are both created in this same way. The only difference is that the aurora borealis is in the Northern Hemisphere, while the aurora australis is in the Southern Hemisphere.
