The aurora borealis, or northern lights, are stunning dancing waves of light that have enthralled humanity for millennia. This stunning light show, however, is a somewhat violent affair, despite its beauty. It is revered as the ‘Holy Grail’ of sky watching.
On Saturday night, the Northern Lights are expected to be visible from various states of the United states. On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a strong geomagnetic storm watch.
According to the agency, there is a 99 percent possibility of a minor or major solar radiation storm on Saturday. On NOAA’s scale of G1 (a moderate storm) to G5 (a major storm), the forecasted storm was rated as a G3 storm on Thursday.
The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are expected to be active due to the impending geomagnetic storm, which is a large disturbance of the Earth’s magnetosphere.
According to the Geophysical Institute of University of Alaska, the Northern Lights could be visible on Saturday night from Portland, Oregon to New York City and as far south as Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Raleigh in North Carolina.
Auroral activity is also expected to be high in portions of Europe, including Aberdeen, Scotland, St. Petersburg, Russia, Dublin and Hamburg, according to the Geophysical Institute.
The Library of Congress stated that the aurora borealis are caused by solar particles colliding with gases in the planet’s atmosphere and have been noticed since ancient times. The Northern Lights are only visible at night, with active periods lasting around 30 minutes and occurring every two hours if activity is intense and it’s a spectacular feat to the human eyes !
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