How to — maybe — catch a glimpse of the northern lights this week

Just over a year ago on May the aurora borealis lit up the skies worldwide due to an extreme geomagnetic storm The D C region had several glorious nights of the northern lights in The last a aurora alert for the region was in April But over the next insufficient nights with the sun having had several essential events in the past day the prospects of seeing the dazzling lights are far greater with Earth directly in the crosshairs to receive critical effects as a impact The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center issued the following Geomagnetic Storm Alert Saturday at a m EDT Geomagnetic Storm Category G or Greater Predicted Highest Storm Level Predicted by Day Jun G Strong Jun G Severe Jun G Moderate As stated in the alert Feasible Impacts Area of impact primarily poleward of degrees geomagnetic latitude Induced Currents Realizable widespread voltage control problems and particular protective systems may mistakenly trip out key assets from the power grid Induced pipeline currents intensify Spacecraft Systems may experience surface charging increased drag on low earth orbit satellites and tracking and orientation problems may occur Navigation GPS degraded or inoperable for hours Radio High frequency radio propagation sporadic or blacked out Aurora Aurora may be seen as low as Alabama and northern California This geomagnetic storm watch is in effect due to a large coronal mass ejection caused by a powerful solar flare which occurred over the past day on the sun which was caused by a powerful solar flare according to the Space Weather Prediction Center There have been solar flares including one very powerful outburst in a -hour period This geomagnetic storm and associated aurora event forecast is not predicted to reach the historic levels of May But we should be watching the skies because if the forecast holds for G Severe it could be quite the sight The latest SWPC forecast states a G or severe geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for Monday June but lights is anticipated to arrive on Earth no later than Sunday June The CME arrival will likely lead to immediate geomagnetic disturbances with the prospective for G Strong levels and a chance for G Conditions will likely intensify as CME progression continues and G levels become more feasible on Monday June SWPC explained For the D C area SWPC s two-day aurora forecast and the forecast clear skies mean lights may be detected to the North If the SWPC forecast holds aurora conditions may be strong enough over the next scarce nights to allow us to detect aurora visually and with our cameras like we did in October It will be well worth taking a look to the north over the next limited nights from a dark sky site with a clear horizon You might be able to visually detect specific color in the sky if aurora are present but they will likely be low on the northern horizon In October the aurora were spread along the northern horizon and spectacularly high in the sky Your camera and or smartphone significantly improves your chances of detecting and imaging the aurora due to their digital sensors Use a camera or smartphone that can take exposures of several seconds Use night sky or low light settings if your camera has them Steady the camera or use a tripod to prevent blurriness in your photos The camera likely capture aurora that your eyes did not Monitor WTOP s weather page for sky conditions the NOAA website EarthSky org SpaceWeather com and space com for updates Space weather explained Terrestrial weather is a factor in the D C region and the rest of the world as well as space weather Space weather can produce a variety of events including this the majority contemporary geomagnetic storm and the aurora Space weather like terrestrial weather is caused by Earth s interaction with the sun We know it will be there every new day and count on it for life-giving warmth and potency We also have become accustomed to it being well-behaved What a multitude of people may not know is that the sun undergoes an -year solar cycle that can affect space weather throughout our solar system The sun is a billion-year-old star that we have been monitoring for millennia There is a fleet of spacecraft that monitor the sun and space weather hours per day seven days a week days per year The sun had an episode of disturbed behavior in that if it were to occur the present day could adversely affect us if we were not prepared On Sept the sun experienced a solar storm episode that was observed by solar astronomer Richard Carrington and ended up bearing his name the Carrington Event This was a watershed event in solar astronomy It had an effect on the Earth like nothing we have seen since And that s a good thing If a Carrington-level solar event were to happen this day the effect on modern infrastructure could be potentially catastrophic especially the electrical grid If you think this is too sci-fi to be true I suggest you read the summary by the National Academies of Science published in Follow Greg Redfern on Facebook Bluesky and his daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration Source