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STARGAZERS have shared stunning pictures of Aurora Borealis after beautiful dancing green and purple lights were spotted across US skies.
A forecast by the Space Weather Prediction Center said a high geomagnetic storm took place last night that increased the chances of spotting the unique natural phenomenon.
Wisconsin’s night sky glowing with the Northern Lights[/caption]
The wonderful phenomenon was spotted clearly across Wisconsin[/caption]
Northern lights illuminating the sky in Central Minnesota[/caption]
The incredible dancing lights were also seen in Oregon[/caption]
The centre had forecasted peak Northern Lights activity for Thursday night and early hours of Friday morning.
And said the dancing lights could be visible in at least 17 US states.
Incredible pictures have now been shared by Northern Lights fanatics from states including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and Maine.
A level 6 alert was issued which meant the aurora would be brighter and more active, extending further down from the polar regions.
“At this geomagnetic activity level, it might be possible to see the aurora from the northern edge of the United States,” the centre stated.
However, the skies must be extremely clear and cloud-free to see the aurora.
List of the 17 states with peak chances of spotting Norther Lights
- Washington
- Oregon
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- Michigan
- New York
- Vermont
- New Hampshire
- Maine
- Montana
- Wyoming
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Nebraska
- Minnesota
Aurora borealis appear in the sky when electrically charged particles from the sun travel across space and collide with Earth‘s atmosphere.
Most of these particles are deflected away, but some become captured in our magnetic field, accelerating towards the north and south poles.
This is why we usually see the lights near the magnetic poles.
In the northern hemisphere, most of this activity takes place within a band known as the aurora oval between 60 and 75 degrees north.
When activity is strong, this expands to cover a greater area – which explains why displays can be occasionally seen – even far away from the polar regions.
The colour of the Northern Lights depends on the gas in the atmosphere being affected by the charged particles – and the amount of energy being exchanged between them
When the sun is at its least active in its 11-year cycle, a period known as “solar minimum”, we observe about one of these ejections a week.
At the current point in the cycle, the “solar maximum”, we see an average of two to three per day.
The most recent severe geomagnetic storm occurred in May 2024, when we saw a drastic increase in Northern Lights sightings in areas that don’t typically see them.
Scientists dubbed it the most extreme storm of the past two decades.
The term “aurora borealis” was first used in 1619 by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who named the lights after the Greek god Boreas and the Roman goddess Aurora, who was associated with the dawn.
The earliest known sighting of the Northern Lights, however, is thought to be a 30,000-year-old French cave artwork.
Dark side of Northern Lights
By Millie Turner, Senior Technology & Science Reporter
NASA scientists have warned of a hidden dark side to the dazzling Northern Lights.
The visual phenomenon, also called Aurora Borealis, can cause long-term damage to critical infrastructure at ground level.
The impact of Aurora on Earth’s electrical grid and satellites during big geomagnetic storms has long been documented.
But Nasa scientists have now revealed that the electrical currents associated with geomagnetic storms can damage natural gas pipelines and subsea cables.
Writing in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, NASA scientists have warned that Northern Lights are quietly reducing the lifetime of pipelines that supply homes with heating and electricity globally.
Aurora can damage any form of infrastructure that conducts electricity on Earth, according to a new research paper.
While more powerful shocks mean more powerful currents and vivid auroras, frequent and less powerful shocks can also do damage.
“Auroras and geomagnetically induced currents are caused by similar space weather drivers,” Dr Denny Oliveira of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, lead author of the article, explained.
“The aurora is a visual warning that indicates that electric currents in space can generate these geomagnetically induced currents on the ground.”
The risk of damage to core infrastructure is heightened during severe geomagnetic storms.
