Dinah Voyles Pulver,Jeanine SantucciUSA TODAY
Fantastic Northern Lights activated bya huge solar storm—the strongest in decades– set the world in motion on Friday eveningcolorful glowing light radiated into the skyas far south as Florida and the Bahamas, to the surprising delight of many who waited and watched.
And good news for anyone who missed it: you might get another chance on Saturday evening or Sunday.
“Aurora borealis were visible over much of the US last night. Weather permitting, they could be visible again tonight,”the Space Weather Prediction Center said in an update Saturday morning. INlatere updatesuggesting the possibility of widespread viewing on Sunday in the US as well.
(A warning, expertspreviously told USA TODAY that predicting space weather is difficult. Scientists must rely on observations of the Sun 93 million miles away to make their predictions.)
The Northern Lights are only visible at night and experts say it's best to see them far away from the hustle and bustle of city life to get the best show. Still, Americans in cities said they could see the lights at night, even indoorsMetro Detroit.
Wisconsinites saw lights dancing across the sky in shades of green and purple. Even residents ofdowntown Milwaukeecaught a glimpse despite the bright lights of the city blocking the view.
View photos:The Northern Lights will be shown in full in the US and Europe on Friday
Will the Northern Lights be visible this weekend?
It could be.
The Space Weather Prediction Centerprovides an experimental prediction mapwhich showed on Saturday that aurora could be visible across much of the United States on Saturday, possibly in states such as Oregon, Nebraska, Indiana, Pennsylvania and New York. But visibility will depend on changing factors, including the weather.
Until Sunday,said space weather starsthe Northern Lights could become visible again in the northern half of the country, with views as far away as Alabama and Northern California. Impacts from that storm are expected to occur Sunday morning ET.
What are the cloud forecasts for Saturday night? Will clouds block the Northern Lights?
If you missed the Northern Lights on Friday evening, you can still catch a glimpse on Saturday or Sunday, depending on where you live. But not if there are clouds in the way.
The cloud forecast for Saturday evening is generally good for most of America, but some people who missed their chance last night because of cloud cover could face a similar problem on Saturday, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines said. Areas likely to be cloudy include the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions, as well as parts of the Southern Plains, including Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado.
“Even a few breaks in the clouds allow the Northern Lights to be visible,” Kines said. "There is always hope."
The highest visibility on Saturday evening will be between and midnight, with some chance until 2 a.m., Kines said. The best views are found in dark areas, away from the light pollution of cities, he said, although some reported seeing the Northern Lights from metro areas such as Milwaukee and Detroit on Friday evening.
On Sunday evening, when the Northern Lights are visible, those in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic can rejoice because Kines said skies should be clearer.
What is causing the Northern Lights this weekend?
The spectacle is caused by a geomagnetic storm that erupted from a sunspot cluster on the Sun.
The storm was unusually powerful - classified as an 'extreme' (or G5) storm, the highest level,Center for Space Weather Forecastingsaid Friday evening. It is the first G5 storm to hit our planet since 2003.
The effects of the geomagnetic storm (not all of which are as beautiful as the Northern Lights) will likely last through the weekend. ThatCenter for Space Weather Forecastingsaid the storm is likely to last through Sunday.
“There have been reports of power grid irregularities and degradation of high-frequency communications and GPS,” the Space Weather Prediction Center said in a Saturday morning update.
Where were the Northern Lights seen on Friday evening?
Over large parts of the US and Europe where skies were clear - as far south as Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona.
Much to the disappointment of many in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, cloud cover dampened or completely blocked the stunning display.
Although unusual, northern lights have been sighted in the southern United States in the past. This happens when a particularly large coronal mass ejection arrives in Earth's outer atmosphere and creates a geomagnetic storm, NOAA reports.
At night that5.-6. november 2001aurora displays were seen in Texas and Arizona.
What causes Northern Lights?
NASA describes an aurora as an "intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the sun and Earth."
The sun's activity creates strong electrical currents known as geomagnetic storms.
These outbursts mainly occur in a large, complex sunspot cluster, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. sunspots,which increases and Reducein a cycle of eleven years,are areas where the magnetic field is about 2500 times stronger than that of the Earth.
The reason the Northern Lights move is because of the way the Sun's ionized gases interact with the Earth's magnetic field.
NASA wants to know whether you took a good photo
In collaboration with the National Science Foundation and the New Mexico Consortium, aurora observations and photographs are collected atAurorasaurus-website.
Why were the Northern Lights so red last Friday?
Mike Theiss, an extreme nature photographer and hurricane hunter who lives in Florida, was shocked to see reports Friday evening about how far south people were seeing the Northern Lights. To his surprise, he was able to step out of his front door in Key Largo in the Florida Keys and see and photograph the Northern Lights. Hours later he was still in disbelief and surprised by the colors of the Northern Lights.
“I've documented the Northern Lights in Iceland, North Dakota and the Arctic Circle in Canada, but never this red color,” Theiss said. "This is the first time I've seen red."
The many colors seen in the Northern Lights are related to the types of gas bombarded at different levels above Earth. Auroras occurin one of the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere,de thermosfeer, volgens de University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
Captured solar particles that interact with different gas molecules, such as nitrogen and oxygen, according to the research agency's website. Oxygen emits green and red light, while nitrogen glows blue and red-purple. Nitrogen gas, for example, glows blue at an altitude of 120 to 180 kilometers.
The less common red Northern Lights are formed by interacting with oxygen molecules at higher altitudes, the website explains.
'Two incredible spectacles in the universe': the Northern Lights appear about a month after the solar eclipse
Seeing the aurora borealis amazed Antonella Fruscione, an astrophysicist at Harvard University. She also sent photos of the sightsuch as April's total solar eclipseto his friends in Italy.
"And I sent them the photo I took at the solar eclipse, and I said, 'Can you imagine how lucky I was this year, a month apart, to see these two incredible spectacles of the universe?'" she remembered as she told them.
The phenomena observed Friday and possibly Saturday evening are unusual, she said.
“It's a very rare event, especially because it was really visible last night,” Fruscione said.
What was the Halloween storm of October 2003?
More than 20 years ago, in late October 2003, three massive groups of sunspots appeared on the Sun's surface without warning, accompanied by 17 major solar flares, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Satellites, radio and GPS systems went around the world and caused some major disruptions. But it also offered great views of the Northern Lights as far south as California and Florida. People in Australia and the Mediterranean countries have even caught a glimpse.
Cast: Doyle Rice and KrystalNurse,USA TODAY
