Northern Lights could flare again across region with sunspot’s return
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Mid-May brought a stunning display of the Northern Lights to much of the world with reports of the aurora visible in all of the lower 48 states in the U.S. – and across the CSRA.
The sunspot responsible for the impressive solar flares was at just the right location to send the energy toward the Earth, resulting in a G5 geomagnetic storm.
This storm was the biggest since 2003 and triggered a stunning and widespread view of the Northern Lights.
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The sunspot turned away from the Earth for just over two weeks and is now reappearing on the eastern edge of the sun. The sun rotates on an average of 27 days so active sunspots are typically visible from Earth for around two weeks before facing away from Earth.
Right now, the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter is sitting on the opposite of the sun from Earth, giving solar scientists the ability to monitor the far side of the sun.
This gives us a special treat as the active sunspot was able to be tracked, even when hidden from Earth’s view. The sunspot has been less active recently but it’s too early to say if this trend will continue.
Now that the sunspot is back in view, over the next two weeks, any solar flares from this region may reach Earth.
However, it’s the coronal mass ejections or CMEs scientists are watching for to trigger the Northern Lights.
For one to have the best odds of reaching Earth, it would need to erupt around June 4-6, when the sunspot is the prime location. This 27 days, a full solar rotation since the mid-May solar flares. This is when we have the best odds of getting a geomagnetic storm and seeing the Northern Lights pushed further south again.
Keep in mind, the aurora event in May was a rare occurrence.
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It was the first G5 geomagnetic storm in 21 years. So the likelihood of a repeat performance so close behind is not terribly high.
But even more common G3 to G4 storms could still allow for the Northern Lights to appear low on the horizon in parts of the Carolinas.
And we are in a solar maximum the rest of the year into 2025, so the possibility of more impressive aurora events remains for a while.
You can check out the latest Northern Lights forecast with our tracker right here: https://www.foxcarolina.com/page/northern-lights-tracker/
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