The auroras are triggered by charged solar particles that blew outward from the sun in an intense eruption on Thursday (Aug. 4). The particles are typically funneled along Earth's magnetic field to the polar regions, where they can spark stunning displays of the northern lights in the Northern Hemisphere, and southern lights in the south.
"Sky watchers at all latitudes should be alert for auroras after nightfall. Tip: the best hours for aurora sightings are usually around local midnight," advised spaceweather.com, a website that monitors space weather and sky-watching events.
Scientists with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) said the solar storm lasted about four hours and was expected to "likely generate bright auroras as far south as Pennsylvania and could possibly upset electronic equipment, especially in space."
Scientists with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) said the solar storm lasted about four hours and was expected to "likely generate bright auroras as far south as Pennsylvania and could possibly upset electronic equipment, especially in space."
Predicting the effects and time of arrival of solar flares is difficult, so while the light show is expected to reach Earth tonight (Aug. 5) it is not completely certain it will be visible so far south. Dark skies unhindered by city lights are required for skywatchers outside polar regions to view aurora displays.
The solar eruption that set off the geomagnetic storm was what astronomers call a coronal mass ejection, or CME. Several NASA space observatories, like the SDO, spotted the eruption as it occurred.
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