Northern Lights likely this weekend… IF the clouds clear out

A series of massive solar flares, explosions on the surface of the sun ejecting radiation energy out into space, has been occurring from an active portion of the sun called a sun spot. Most of this energy has been thrusted away from earth, so we see no effect from them, but as the sun rotates, the active sun spot has sent energy from the last couple flares racing towards earth at up to 4 million miles per hour.

When this energy interacts with the earths atmosphere, a chemical reaction happens and the particles glow, mostly around the poles. A phenomenon we refer to as the Aurora Borealis aka northern lights.

Each flare from the sun is given a strength rating in relation to its strength and size. The scale is a letter followed by the numbers 1-9. The letters start out with A, B, C, M and X with A being the weakest and X the strongest. As flare strength gets to be 10 times greater, they move to the next letter. So a C8 flare is 10 times stronger than a B8 flare.

With this in mind, the active sunspot that is now facing earth has spouted out 9 M class flares and 2 X class flares in the last 14 hours Thursday, May 9, 2024. For those playing at home… this is a massive amount of energy sent Earthward. The results should be a prolonged northern lights event starting as early as tonight.

While not common, it isn’t a rare event either. Its a matter of where in the suns activity cycle we are at. The suns active sunspots and solar flares peak every 11 years, and this cycle’s 11 year peak is early 2024… or now.

This weekend’s forecast has clouds and rain likely Friday night but mostly clear conditions Saturday night. If you want to go look for the lights, you should get away from city lights, and not in an area where a major city is within 20 miles to your north.

Just like thunderstorms, there are numerous factors that go into if the lights will be active. A good idea is to join a facebook page that has people reporting in real time when and where they are or are not seeing the lights. This is one I follow…

https://www.facebook.com/groups/328751367284546

One more thing to consider. While the lights can look really amazing to the naked eye, it’s important to remember when you are seeing photos of the auroras, they are taken with professional cameras on tripods with longer time exposures so more light gets into the image. Plus they are likely “Popped” in a photo editing program to make them appear more vibrant. So don’t set your goals to see them as they appear on many online photos.