Oct. 4 (UPI) — Sky watchers across North America are anxiously anticipating what could be the most intense display of aurora borealis in decades this weekend in the wake of two major solar flares.
The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, “may put on an exceptional display both Friday and Saturday nights, which could be visible across all of Canada and the northern United States,” predicted The Weather Network, adding the weekend’s display “could rival the best shows the northern lights have put on in decades.”
That enthusiasm is based on a forecast issued Friday by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center calling for strong geomagnetic activity levels beginning early Friday evening and lasting until shortly before 12 a.m. EDT Saturday.
Then, following a brief lull, moderate geomagnetic activity levels will kick in throughout much of Saturday, during which auroras likely will be visible across Canada and as far south as Oregon, Nebraska, Illinois and Pennsylvania in the United States.
“G1-G3 (Minor-Strong) geomagnetic storms likely over the next three days due to influences from the halo CMEs (coronal mass ejections) that left the Sun late on 01 Oct and midday on 03 Oct,” space forecasters wrote, referring to a massive X9.0-class solar flare that erupted from the sun’s surface on Thursday.
That colossal flare, which peaked at 8:18 a.m. EDT, was the biggest seen in seven years and the most powerful CME in the current 11-year sunspot cycle. It came from the same sunspot group as a smaller but still powerful flare on Tuesday, which measured X7.1.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy which can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.
The charged ions they emit also are responsible for creating the aurora borealis when they interact with gases upon reaching Earth’s magnetosphere, releasing energy in the form of light.
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