Northern lights could light up sky over Del.
Solar activity forecast for this weekend
Thanks to heightened solar activity, the aurora borealis could be coming to the skies above a large portion of the nation, including Delaware, this weekend, space weather forecasters said Thursday.
Federal forecasters from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said that during previous solar activity of this magnitude, the “aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California.” Experts said the aurora might be visible Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights.
The spectacle is courtesy of a series of coronal mass ejections from the sun, which are forecast to reach the Earth early this weekend and produce the geomagnetic storms that trigger auroras. A G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for Saturday, NOAA said.
“This weekend’s geomagnetic storm watch has been upgraded from G2 (Moderate) to G4 (Severe),” according to astronomer Tony Phillips, writing on SpaceWeather.com. “Why? Because giant sunspot AR3664 keeps hurling CMEs toward Earth. Following today’s X2.2 solar flare, there are now at least 4 storm clouds heading our way,” Phillips said.
The colorful aurora forms when particles flowing from the sun get caught up in Earth’s magnetic field. The particles interact with molecules of atmospheric gases to generate the famed glowing green and reddish colors of the aurora.
Solar maximum is here
The northern lights, also called the aurora borealis, have been appearing more frequently in the night sky over the U.S. In April 2023, for example, a stunning aurora display was seen as far south as Arkansas in the South and Arizona in the West.
So why the uptick in aurora sightings?
And is this expected to continue? Well, if you love the aurora, you’re in luck, as it may be coming to a sky near you more often over the next few years thanks to the “solar maximum,” which is expected to peak this year.
“There have been an increase in aurora seen in general on Earth,” Shannon Schmoll, the director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University told USA TODAY last year. “The sun
has been more active, resulting in more solar storms that cause solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
Tips for viewing the northern lights
“Go out at night,” NOAA said. “And get away from city lights.”
The best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight (between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time). These hours expand toward evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases.
There may be aurora in the evening and morning, but it is usually not as active, and therefore not as visually appealing, NOAA said.
One key requirement to seeing the aurora is clear skies. Rain and thunderstorms are forecast for Delaware on Saturday.