Aurora alert: The northern lights may be visible across Canada tonight
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting moderate aurora activity across Canada and some parts of the US late Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.
The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Centre announced a “G2 Watch” for July 24 due to the arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME), which is an eruption of solar material.
The NOAA uses a scale ranging from G1 (minor class storms) to G5 (the highest class storm).
Euan McGhee (Submitted)
The agency noted that when the CME arrives near Earth, a geomagnetic storm can result.
A G2 Watch is in effect for 24 Jul due to the likely arrival of a halo CME that erupted on 21 Jul. pic.twitter.com/yeojShZkqH
— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) July 22, 2024
This storm won’t be as strong as the one in May, which was classified as G4 and produced strong aurora activity across Canada.
Space.com provided more information on the storm’s timing, noting that there is a “level of uncertainty” as to when the skies could light up.
The website referred to a post from space weather physicist Dr. Tamitha Skov, who stated the storm would be “fashionably late, due to slow solar wind traffic.”
Direct Hit: NASA & NOAA model predictions show the #solarstorm will impact Earth July 24. The window for arrival starts early July 24. Likely the storm will be fashionably late, due to slow solar wind “traffic” & an additional glancing storm blow ahead of it. G1-G2 level… pic.twitter.com/1Ma5NTPhtD
— Dr. Tamitha Skov (@TamithaSkov) July 22, 2024
According to the NOAA’s current predictions, there will be activity visible across Canada tonight, with a higher chance of viewing the lights in the north and central parts of the country.
NOAA
“The brightness and location of the aurora is typically shown as a green oval centered on Earth’s magnetic pole. The green ovals turn red when the aurora is forecasted to be more intense,” stated the NOAA.
“Aurora can often be observed somewhere on Earth from just after sunset or just before sunrise.”
Of course, whether the aurora will be visible from your part of the country will depend on the weather forecast and clear skies.
Daily Hive has reached out to the Canadian Space Centre for further comment.
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