Many people in Michigan got a chance to see the Northern Lights on Friday and Saturday night, and if the weather cooperates, we might get another chance Sunday night.
When is the best time to look for Northern Lights in Michigan?
According to the NOAA, the best time to view the aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight. So, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Northern Lights forecast map
Here’s a look at the projected forecast: The red line shows how far south the aurora could stretch.
Northern Lights viewing tips:
- Look north! The aurora will likely be on the horizon but higher in the sky the further north you are.
- Dim the lights: Find an area with less light pollution for your best chance.
What are the Northern Lights?
The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.
They are known as ‘Aurora borealis’ in the north and ‘Aurora Australis’ in the south.. Auroral displays appear in many colors although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported.
The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.
What are coronal mass ejections?
CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona. They cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth.
Geomagnetic storms have been known to impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface. This could potentially disrupt communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.
According to SWPC, only three severe geomagnetic storms have been observed during this solar cycle, which began in December 2019. The last G4 (severe) was spotted on March 23, 2024, this triggered a geomagnetic storm alert.
Extreme (G5) geomagnetic storm conditions were observed on Earth at 6:54 p.m. on Friday. The geomagnetic storm is likely to continue through the weekend and will continue to lessen in severity until it comes to an end on May 13.
The last G5 (extreme) caused the Halloween storms in October 2003. That G5 caused power outages in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.
---> Read more on geomagnetic storms
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