Colors dancing in the night on Friday marked a “rare” occasion in the south – the Northern Lights far beyond where they are typically found around the pole.
Fox 5 shared one of dozens of photos from around the metro area – including one from Polk County’s Alana Wilson – of the Aurora’s being seen well south from where they are usually found around the poles.
A solar storm brought G5 level impacts (larger amounts of solar radiation from flares which collide with the magnetic field) which hit the magnetic field and create the auroras (also known as the Northern Lights.) The magnetic field surrounding the globe produced by the spinning iron core at the center of the plant are
The “rare” solar storm impacting the magnetic fields are expected to bring auroras southward again through the rest of the weekend, but maybe not this far south.
The NWS Space Weather Prediction Center puts the solar storm at a G4 level currently, with the potential for the Northern Lights to reach as far south as Missouri, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
Want to share a photo from last night or this weekend of the auroras? Feel free to email one to polktoday@gmail.com.
“Solar Storms” are not exactly the same kind of weather event one might understand here on solid ground. The sun is essentially a giant, uncontrolled fusion reactor which along with visible spectrum of light also produces large amounts of non-visible byproducts such as UV, X-Ray, Gamma and other forms of radiation.
It pushes out with such force from the home star that it generates a “wind” of sorts, streaming out from all directions around it with a constant dose of radioactive particles. Due to the physics involved in the fusion reaction of the basic elements at the heart of the star, the sun also fluctuates between “solar minimums” and “solar maximums,” where the violence of the reactions ebb and flow in intensity.
When those reaction forces grow in intensity, a large “flare” of plasma jets out from the sun in various directions, sending out a larger dose of radioactive particles along with it and thus creating a “solar storm.”
These radioactive particles of various kinds and intensity can impact modern day conveniences in a variety of ways. For instance, solar storms when impacting with the earth’s magnetic field at high enough intensity can cause electromagnetic interference, and say for instance cause issues with radios in phones and the internal circuitry within devices used daily. Extreme solar events have previously caused blackouts, and one back in the mid-1800s knocked out telegraph systems and even shocked operators sitting at their telegraph keys.
NWS’ Space Weather Prediction Center categorizes these events on a scale of 1 to 5, the lower end of the scale considered minor while the higher end of the scale is extreme.
Check back for any additional updates as they become available.
