Aurora Alert – A possible geomagnetic storm could spark northern lights as far away as Illinois and Oregon tonight

Aurora trackers get these cameras!

Due to increased solar activity, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a geomagnetic storm warning for October 3-5.

This is great news for those who want to see this Northern lights Because if the predicted G3 conditions are achieved, we could observe auroras deep into the mid-latitudes (around 50°) and as far south as possible Illinois and Oregon.

The culprit? A large cloud of plasma and magnetic field known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) fired by the sun during a recent explosion X-class solar flare on October 1st.

When CMEs interact with those of Earth magnetosphereThey bring with them electrically charged particles called ions, which collide with the Earth's magnetic field. These collisions can trigger geomagnetic storms. During such storms, ions collide with atmospheric gases, releasing energy that appears as light. This phenomenon is observed in the Northern Hemisphere as the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis and in the Southern Hemisphere as the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis.

Geomagnetic storms are classified by NOAA using a G scale to measure the intensity of geomagnetic storms. They range from storms of the most extreme class G5 to storms of the smaller class G1. The most recent geomagnetic storm watch issued by NOAA is currently classified as G1 to G3.

When will the geomagnetic storm occur?