The northern lights may be visible over the Philly region Sunday night and Monday
A space weather expert sees a "decent" chance they'll be visible over Philly, if the forecast holds.
It’s always a long shot at our latitude, but NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center says it’s possible that the northern lights will enchant the skies over half the country, including the Philadelphia region, on Sunday night.
“Based on the current forecast, there’s a ‘decent’ chance,” Robert Steenburgh, scientist at the space weather center, said late Saturday afternoon.
He added, “There might be a chance Monday night.”
NASA posted what it called a “rare” severe-geomatic storm watch on Saturday, the day after a “powerful coronal mass ejection” erupted from the sun.
The solar material was expected to reach Earth sometime Sunday, however, these things do not adhere to schedules and are several more magnitudes harder to predict than pop-up thunderstorms.
The storm in question, possibly a G4 on a 1 to 5 scale, has the potential to disrupt power and satellite-navigation systems — and to ignite spectacular shows in the night sky.
NASA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said that as a result of the disturbance, “The aurora may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to Northern California.”
What causes the aurora borealis?
Solar storms — commonly called sunspots — can eject massive quantities of charged particles and magnetic fields that stream toward Earth at ultrahigh speeds.
The interaction of the solar material and the Earth’s magnetosphere creates the colorful, undulating curtains of light that can vary in color from green, to pink, to reddish, to purple.
The polar regions are their most frequent venue, however, the stronger storms can drive them toward the midlatitudes.
Are sightings over the Philly region rare?
In a word, yes.
They did appear, albeit briefly, in October, rose-colored and purple-ish, and spectacular while they lasted.
And that was the first time they were visible around here in over 20 years.
Space weather officials have said that solar storms have been erupting more frequently lately because the sun has been approaching — or possibly has reached — the peak of an 11-year sunspot cycle that began in 2019.
It is not clear how long the peak will last or when it might end.
If the lights are visible Sunday night, the moon shouldn’t offer much interference. It will be less than half full, and it is at one of its farther points away from Earth.
To monitor the aurora prospects, visit the Space Weather Prediction Center site, and its aurora dashboard.