Geomagnetic storms are major disturbances in the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by energy from solar winds. Severe storms can occur after a coronal mass ejection, when the sun expels tons of plasma and magnetic fields. In its announcement Thursday, NOAA said at least five “earth directed” CMEs had been observed.
That’s in addition to several strong solar flares that are associated with a “large and magnetically complex” sunspot cluster 16 times the diameter of the Earth, the agency said.
The northern lights produce an ethereal light show that is typically limited to regions a bit closer to the northern and southern poles. But geomagnetic storms can cause the lights to be seen in places closer to the equator, depending on the intensity of the storm.
And great news: They are expected to be seen again throughout Michigan on Saturday starting around 10 p.m. If you get some great photos, send them our way to [email protected], and we could use them in a future post. (Sending the photos acknowledges our rights to reprint, but not sell.)
Meantime, staffers at Bridge Michigan and BridgeDetroit got caught up in the excitement. Check out these photos, first from Deputy Editor Jonathan Oosting in Frankfort: