![]() Best Time of Yearīest bet to see those green and pink nightlights? August through April-October, November,Īnd April being peak months. Maximize your changes of seeing an auroraīorealis shower by following these tips no matter your location in the northern hemisphere. It is notoriously hard to predict catching the northern lights-they are a naturally occurring phenomenon after all-and a clear night sky is a must. It's just that " solar maximums," or peaks in the sun's activity, likely result in greater frequency of aurorae.Īccording to one source, 2022–2027 may be the best years for aurorae sightings. Not to worry-auroras still appear in the night's sky. Forecasters expected the next solar minimum to arrive in 2019–2020-but Scientists refer to the solar cycle like a pendulum, swinging back and forth between periods Just like Earth's cycles or seasons, the sun's energy output also fluctuates on a Kp-index readings (the global geomagnetic activity index) of six plus indicate the potential to see Often, auroras happen with just 30-minutes warning others speculate multiple-day warnings and peg periods around the spring and fall equinoxes for increases in aurora. The Aurora this night was seen over many parts of the Northern Hemisphere north of the tropics, courtesy of an unusually large geomagnetic storm.Northern lights (aurora borealis) in the night sky.Īurorae happen there's no set schedule. This occurred on the night of November 5th and 6th, 2001 where amazing Aurora displays were seen as far south as Texas, Arizona and San Diego, CAĪn NWS employee formerly in Rapid City SD, took this spectacular picture of an Aurora Borealis display on November 5th, 2001. Displays this far south can occur when a large coronal mass ejection from the Sun creates a huge geomagnetic storm in the Earth's outer atmosphere. Although most common in the northern latitudes, the Aurora have been occasionally seen south of 35 degrees north latitude which encompasses the far southern United States. They also usually show a greater frequency during the winter months, where the nights are longer and the skies generally void of haze. Aurora displays usually increase during times of the solar maximum. This means in general that in these latitudes, the Aurora should occur on at least half of the nights throughout the year. In the northern hemisphere, there is a 50% or greater chance of seeing Aurora roughly between the latitudes of 55 to 80 degrees north. Although harmless to life on Earth, the Aurora can cause power disruptions in satellite communications and in radio/TV broadcasts.Īurora Displays: The northern latitudes (or southern latitudes in the southern hemisphere) see the greatest occurrence of the Aurora. The Aurora are constantly changing and moving in streams of light or curtains, because the process of how the Sun's ionized gas interacts with the Earth's magnetic field is very dynamic. As electrons pass through the neon tubing, they glow, thus producing the light in a neon sign. ![]() ![]() This is the same principal as how a neon sign lights up. Some of the ions become trapped and will consequently interact with the Earth's ionosphere (an average of 60-80 miles above the surface), causing the ions to glow. As the plasma comes in contact with the Earth's magnetic field, the ions will be agitated into moving around the Earth. What Causes the Aurora? The Sun emits electrically-charged particles called ions, which correspondingly move away from the Sun in a stream of plasma (ionized gas) known as the solar wind. The Aurora Australis is the southern hemisphere counterpart to the Aurora Borealis. The Aurora Borealis (commonly referred to as the Northern Lights) are the result of interactions between the Sun and Earth's outer atmosphere.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |