Solar storms may ignite south-reaching auroras Wednesday
A geomagnetic storm headed from the sun toward Earth will crash into the atmosphere overnight Wednesday, triggering an extraterrestrial light show across the night sky, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.
The sun emitted a huge cloud of super-heated plasma, known as a coronal mass ejection, on Monday, NOAA reported. The plasma, traveling at a speed of about 200 miles per second, is expected to crash into the Earth's atmosphere Wednesday, triggering strong geomagnetic storms. Exciting oxygen and hydrogen atoms in the atmosphere to release their photons in green, red and orange colors, the geomagnetic storms are expected to trigger auroras, the ghostly light shows also known as the northern and southern lights.
The storms are expected to light up unusually south-reaching auroras, observable from parts of the northern United States. The auroras might be visible from northeast Montana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, North Dakota, northeast South Dakota, Illinois and Oregon. People living in Canada are expected to get the best views, but those living in Scotland, northern England and Scandinavia will also likely be able to see the display, according to NOAA.
On Wednesday, space weather forecasters issued a watch for the G3-level (strong) geomagnetic storm, the middle classification on the five-level geomagnetic storm scale, above 'moderate' and below 'severe.' The storms could affect spacecraft operation or power grids, but the effects are expected to be minor. They may also impact migratory animals, such as sperm whales, birds and honey bees, by temporarily altering the Earth's magnetic fields.
Auroras are best seen in extremely dark skies with minimal light pollution. A full moon will rise Wednesday night, though, which may limit skygazers' visibility.
The solar storm is projected to ignite the night skies as Category 5 Hurricane Irma barrels through the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, on track to make landfall in the U.S. early next week.
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