The D.C. area is enjoying a day of warming Thursday that will continue through the weekend 鈥� along with some much needed rain, which means clouds. But four big blobs of solar material violently ejected from the sun over the past several days are also .
Known as a fairly rare cannibal CME 鈥� 鈥� when it impacts
the realm of near-earth space and our planet鈥檚 magnetic field, a , level G3, is forecast to occur Dec. 1. It is set to continue as a G2 storm that could produce an aurora 鈥� the Northern Lights 鈥� possibly visible in the U.S. on Thursday night into Friday morning, including in the D.C. region.
We experienced a geomagnetic storm that produced incredible sky views Nov. 5.
There are three critical factors to possibly seeing a sky show Thursday night:聽the timing of the G2-G3 geomagnetic storm, cloud cover and moon rise.
As to the geomagnetic storm levels, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is G2 levels Nov. 30, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. EST and G3 levels on Dec. 1, from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. EST.
We luck out with cloud cover forecasts in the D.C. area, as we Moon rise will be in the Northeast just before 8 p.m. EST and will be in the sky all night. The moon will be bright, and if auroras are present, hopefully they will be bright enough to be visible in the moonlight.
The NOAA provides a two-day prediction of auroras. Northern U.S. states have a good chance of seeing them Thursday night, but the DMV region鈥檚 more southerly location makes it more 鈥渋ffy.”
Our best bet is to monitor the and space-related social media sites , , and for updates. The current forecast shows the aurora will be visible to northern states. It will be worth taking a look to the North-Northeast from a dark sky site with a clear horizon. You might be able to detect some color in the sky if auroras are present and bright enough to overcome moonlight, but they would likely be low on the Northern horizon. Wide field binoculars might help.
How to take pictures
Use a camera or smartphone that can take exposures of several seconds 鈥� including using 鈥淣ight Sky鈥� or 鈥淟ow Light鈥� settings if your camera has them 鈥� of the Northern horizon. Steady the camera or use a tripod for best image results. The camera may capture auroras that .
With our terrestrial weather being such a factor in our daily lives, we are also directly affected by , which can produce a variety of events, including Thursday鈥檚 geomagnetic storm and auroras.
Space weather, like our terrestrial weather, is caused by Earth鈥檚 interaction with our star, the sun. We know it will be there every new day and count on it for life-giving warmth and energy. We also have become accustomed to it being well behaved. What many people may not know is that our sun undergoes that can affect space weather throughout our solar system.
鈥� I check this site every day just as I do my local weather 鈥� has a daily snapshot of what the space weather in the solar system is going to be like and a current image of the sun. Their webpage Thursday has my astropic I took Nov. 5 of a Stable Auroral Red (SAR) Arc. I鈥檓 really hoping that we get a good sky show Thursday night.
Our is a 4.5-billion-year-old star that we have been monitoring since Galileo. Today, humans have a fleet of spacecraft that monitor the sun and space weather.
The sun is currently and is progressing toward , which is predicted to occur July 2025. As the sun approaches Solar Maximum, it produces more which produce space weather events such as the forecast Level G3 Geomagnetic Storm.
The sun had an episode of disturbed behavior in 1859 that, if it were to occur today, could adversely affect us if we were not prepared.
On Sept. 1, 1859, the sun experienced a solar storm episode that was observed by solar astronomer Richard Carrington that ended up bearing his name 鈥� “.” This was a watershed event in solar astronomy and the sun’s affect on the Earth, as nothing like it has been seen since 鈥� thankfully.
If a Carrington-level solar event were to happen today, the affect on modern society’s infrastructure could be potentially catastrophic, especially on the electrical grid. If you think this is unlikely or too sci-fi to be true, I suggest you read the .
Just recently, the sun had a , which, fortunately for us, occurred on the far side of the sun.
You listen to 草莓传媒 for 鈥渢raffic and weather together on the Eights.” Maybe now you will want to include a check on space weather, too, as part of your daily weather routine.
I鈥檒l be at on Thursday night chasing the Northern Lights with my camera. If I get any worthy astropics, I鈥檒l be sharing them on 草莓传媒. Wishing all of us clear skies and a good sky show!
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