Northern lights may be visible on Thanksgiving

November 27, 2024

Aurora hunters have reason to be thankful this Thursday as a solar storm is predicted to reach Earth and produce some colorful northern lights in the Northern Hemisphere.

The dazzling phenomenon, also known as the aurora borealis, should be visible in parts of the northern United States on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The celestial display of greenish and reddish hues would be the result of a coronal mass ejection hurtling toward Earth, prompting NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center to issue a geomagnetic storm warning for Thursday and Friday.

The solar storm may pose a minimal threat to things like satellites, GPS signals and power grids, but it could also provide additional Thanksgiving entertainment long after football and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are long over. Because of the way the sun’s particles interact with Earth’s magnetosphere, the powerful flare should make the brilliant northern lights visible in a larger portion of the Northern Hemisphere than usual.

Here’s what you should know about the Northern Lights and how you might be able to see them on Thanksgiving night in the United States.

Northern lights:During solar maximum, auroras should be more visible across the United States

NOAA issues a geomagnetic storm warning for Thanksgiving week

Since Sunday, NOAA has been tracking a coronal mass ejection that exploded from the sun on a trajectory that was expected to reach Earth later this week.

Meteorologists use a five-level scale to measure geometric storms that form when coronal mass ejections release solar particles and electromagnetic radiation toward our planet. The solar storm is relatively small, with NOAA measuring it at a low G1 intensity on Thursday and a moderate G2 intensity on Friday.

Of course, the predicted storm won’t be quite as severe as the G4 blast of October 10, but it should still reveal the Northern Lights in the Northern Hemisphere.

Where will the Northern Lights be visible?

The Northern Lights are best seen around the magnetic poles of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, such as Europe, Asia and North America. In the United States, Alaska is known for having the best Northern Lights viewing opportunities.

But Thursday’s approaching solar storm should make the northern lights visible further from the poles. The geomagnetic activity has a Kp index of 5, meaning the northern lights will also be brighter, according to NOAA.

“If you’re in the right place, these northern lights can be very beautiful to see,” the agency says.

In the U.S., the auroras could be visible in some northern and upper Midwestern states from New York to Idaho, according to SWPC’s experimental aurora sightline. Visibility for viewing also depends on local weather conditions and city lights.

The northern lights could also be visible low on the horizon in several states, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute website, which tracks the phenomenon.

This includes:

Boise, Idaho;
Cheyenne, Wyo.;
Lincoln, Neb.;
Indianapolis;
Annapolis, Md.;

When is the best time to see the Northern Lights?

The solar storms send particles emanating from the sun that become trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field and, when interacting with molecules of atmospheric gases, lead to the formation of colorful auroras. In the coming months, the resulting brilliant auroras could be a sight to behold – if you look up at the right time.

Even though conditions are ideal for further upcoming auroras, experts have long struggled to predict exactly when and where the phenomenon will ever occur. Even the best predictions can only be made accurately a few days or even hours in advance.

But as a rule of thumb, if the weather is clear, the best aurora is usually visible within an hour or two of midnight, according to NOAA. And if it looks like the Northern Lights are about to flare up near you, it’s advisable to leave the cities and travel to dark places without light pollution.

The agency also maintains an aurora dashboard to help sky watchers track the phenomenon.

What causes the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights are a natural light display in the Earth’s sky that is known to be best seen in high latitude regions of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

The phenomenon occurs when electrically charged particles from space enter Earth’s atmosphere and collide with molecules and gases such as oxygen and nitrogen, causing the atmospheric particles to gain energy. To return to their normal state, the particles release this energy in the form of light, according to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

As auroras form, the Earth’s magnetic field redirects the particles toward the poles through a process that creates a breathtaking display of rays, spirals and flickers that has fascinated humans for millennia. Whether greens, reds, blues and even pinks dance in the sky depends on the altitude at which the collisions occur, as well as the composition and density of the atmosphere at that time.

Why northern lights activity is increasing

Now that the Sun is at the peak of its 11-year cycle, the increase in solar activity has resulted in more frequent space weather, creating the right conditions for northern lights to thrive.

Regions of intense magnetic activity, called sunspots, proliferate on the sun’s surface and can trigger intense bursts of radiation, leading to solar flares that can hurtle toward Earth at the speed of light, according to NOAA. Some of these eruptions may be accompanied by coronal mass ejections, or clouds of plasma and charged particles emanating from the Sun’s outermost atmosphere, the corona.

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