On Wednesday night, people in the far north of the United States may experience something special: the Northern Lights, also known as the Northern Lights, appearing in the night sky.
Auroras can be seen in several northern states due to recent strong geomagnetic storms from the sun.
The storm was rated G3, the third on NOAA’s five-level solar storm scale. (G1 storms are mild, while G5 storms are considered extreme.)
Colorful auroras form when particles emitted by the sun are captured by Earth’s magnetic field. These particles interact with atmospheric gas molecules to create the bright red and green colors that auroras are famous for.
Northern Lights over the North Pole
According to Accuweather, states that could see the aurora Wednesday night include Washington, Idaho, Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
On Monday, NOAA’s solar-observing satellite detected two flares on the sun’s surface, ejecting huge clouds of charged particles in space. These events are called coronal mass ejections.
After analyzing the flares, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said Earth was in the path of both coronal mass ejections, which is good news for those hoping to catch a glimpse of the aurora, AccuWeather said.
Lights can be seen at the northernmost and southernmost points of the world. The southern lights are called the southern lights.
Geomagnetic storms can affect Earth’s infrastructure, potentially disrupting communications, power grids, navigation, radio and satellite operations, NOAA said. The technical impact of a G3 storm is generally still small, but it can push the auroras farther south from their usual location over the polar regions, NOAA said.
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