Topline
After the northern lights treated swathes of the U.S. to dazzling displays of color from California to Florida, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the aurora could be visible again throughout parts of the country tonight.
Northern lights shine over Portsmouth, N.H., Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
Key Facts
The solar storm that caused the strong display of northern lights is still active and is expected to continue at least through Sunday, and parts of the U.S. may be able to see the lights tonight “weather permitting,” according to a Saturday update from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
The aurora is notoriously difficult to predict, with NOAA noting it can be seen as far as 1,000 kilometers away depending on brightness and weather conditions—heavier cloud cover is expected in the Northeast, around New York and New England, and across Texas, parts of Oklahoma and Kentucky later tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
The ongoing solar flares could also mean continued risk of disruptions to radio communications, power grids and navigation signals, according to NOAA.
The Space Weather Prediction Center noted there have been reports of power grid irregularities and degradation to high-frequency communications and GPS—SpaceX’s Starlink noted it was experiencing degraded service with CEO Elon Musk tweeting overnight Starlink satellites were “under a lot of pressure” due to the solar storms.
Where Can You See The Northern Lights On Saturday?
The Space Weather Prediction Center’s experimental aurora forecast for Saturday night shows a view line (see map, below)—which represents represents “the southern-most locations from which you may see the aurora on the northern horizon,” according to NOAA—passing through Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. That means all states North of that line have a greater chance at seeing the lights. It’s also possible they could reach as far south as Alabama and were seen down in Florida on Friday.
A map of the potential viewline for the aurora borealis Saturday.
What’s The Best Way To See The Northern Lights?
NOAA says optimal viewing time for the aurora is generally within an hour or two of midnight—so between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. The agency recommends getting away from city lights and finding a spot with a clear vantage point to the north to optimize viewing chances. Some have noted that smartphone cameras are sensitive enough to capture the aurora—even when it’s invisible to the naked eye. Visit Iceland, a tourist website for Iceland, where the lights are often visible, recommends turning on night mode to increase smartphone camera exposure.
Key Background
The northern lights are a result of geomagnetic storms prompted by eruptions on the solar surface, often in so-called sunspots, or areas on the sun’s surface that experience strong magnetic activity. Those storms can create disturbances to Earth’s magnetic fields while creating dazzling displays of lights. The northern lights are occurring at all times but are not always visible, and are typically seen mostly around the North Pole. NOAA said Friday’s solar storm was considered a G5 storm—the highest possible level and the strongest observed since 2003—and had observed G5 conditions Saturday as well.
What To Watch For
Many of the solar flares that cause the aurora—and the potential impact on satellites and communications—have been attributed to a sunspot region that NOAA refers to as “Sunspot Region 3664,” believed to be 15 times the size of Earth. A sunspot region is an area of magnetic activity on the sun’s surface. NOAA says strong sola flares are likely to continue until this cluster of sunspots “rotates out of view over the next several days.”