Auroras May Hit Northern U.S. States This Week Due to Geomagnetic Storm

Auroras May Hit Northern U.S. States This Week Due to Geomagnetic Storm

August 17, 2022

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On Wednesday and Thursday, when Earth receives a hit from a cloud of plasma, solar activity may cause the northern lights to shine over northern U.S. states.

A coronal mass ejection (CME), the name for the plasma cloud, was released from the sun on Sunday. Since that time, the charged gas cloud has been hurdling itself toward Earth.

After Sunday's CME was discovered, the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted on its website on Monday that G1 (minor) and G2 (moderate) storm watches were in effect for Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

According to the SWPC, auroras "may be observed from the far Northeast, through the far upper Midwest, across areas of the north-central states, and possibly over the northwest section of Washington state" on Thursday as the cloud of charged gas "is expected to arrive at Earth as a glancing blow."

CMEs are frequently ejected from the sun's active regions, where strong magnetic field lines are entangled and bent. Extremely large amounts of energy are released in the form of radiation and plasma when these magnetic field lines abruptly shift.

CMEs don't always go directly toward Earth. But when they do, these clouds of charged gas can mess with the magnetic field of our planet and possibly interfere with some modern equipment, though most people don't notice this.

For instance, CMEs can increase the upper atmosphere's temperature, which can increase the drag on low-Earth orbiting spacecraft and perhaps result in their annihilation. The disruption of radio communications and changes to the electricity system are further potential repercussions of CMEs.

The intensity of these disturbances, known as geomagnetic storms, ranges from G1 to G5, with G5 being the strongest.

CMEs can lead to some problems, but they can also produce breathtaking auroras. The interaction of solar particles with the magnetic field of Earth results in auroras. The northern lights can also appear at considerably lower latitudes than typical due to the massive magnetic disturbances that CMEs can produce.

Depending on how powerful the CME turns out to be, auroras may be visible "as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington state" on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the SWPC. There's also a chance that the auroras won't be visible because of cloud cover, light pollution, or because they won't happen at night. The SWPC did not provide information on precise timings.

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Content source: https://www.newsweek.com/auroras-northern-us-states-geomagnetic-storm-1734057

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