Near miss & Northern Lights

JohnR1972JohnR1972
in General

North America appears to have gotten lucky this evening as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm watch due to a series of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) from the Sun which were heading straight toward Earth.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13404835/cannibal-solar-storm-gps-power-outage.html

The last time (we know of) that Earth was hit by a CME was in 1859 which was known as the “Carrington Event”. The geomagnetic storm overloaded telegraph wires, destroyed telegraph stations, and started a number of fires. It looks like tonight we are just going to get a spectacular light show in the sky about 11:00 pm Eastern time.

Comments

  • SunsetSnugglesSunsetSnuggles

    A cuddle friend messaged me earlier telling me about this. I had no idea! Wyoming is at the edge of it. We've got decently clear skies tonight, and live in a rural area, so I'm hopeful. 🌌

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    🦄 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Fiend 🐘 Animal Lover

  • SunsetSnugglesSunsetSnuggles

    Crystal clear skies here in the mountains, but nothing unusual in the sky, as of yet. Saw a few satellites, of course. Hoping the moon will lower quickly, as midnight approaches. 🌙

    Bump for anyone further up - I'm lookin' at you, North Dakota!

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    🦄 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Fiend 🐘 Animal Lover

  • MorpheusMorpheus

    I see nothing in So Cal

  • SlothHugsSlothHugs
    edited May 2024

    Here’s a pic from northeast of Denver!! It was lovely ☺️

    @JohnR1972 , did you get to see it?

  • cuddlefaerycuddlefaery

    @SlothHugs whoa! All the way down in Denver? That's freakin awesome.

  • SunsetSnugglesSunsetSnuggles

    I went out at 11:50: nothing. Checked again at midnight and the sky was green! 💚

    In the other direction, we had a massive set of white angel wings shimmering to the right of Scorpius. It was phenomenal!

    This is a completely unedited photo, though my phone saw more spectrum and saturation than the naked eye. We are in northwestern Wyoming.

    Definitely worth staying up and going out into the 33 degree weather, to knock something unexpectedly off my bucket list. 🤩

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    🦄 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Fiend 🐘 Animal Lover

  • [Deleted User]zerogone40 (deleted user)

    Apparently last night the sky here in the UK was alight in a nice shade of green. I didn’t see anything of course, looking out the window is too much effort. 🤣

  • CuddleButtLOLCuddleButtLOL




    … visiting Seattle for a wedding, and it’s all over the sky at 1:30 AM😊

  • [Deleted User]donhulio (deleted user)

    I was lucky to have an amazing view all the way down here in Kansas. And even luckier that my sister wanted to come watch with me. <3

    Light editing to darken the sky by bumping contrast. It really was incredibly colorful to the naked eye. The green spot on the horizon is some farmer with a bright floodlight in his driveway, illuminating his tree :D

  • quixotic_lifequixotic_life

    I'm so glad you all took pics!! I totally missed it.

  • JoyfulHeartJoyfulHeart

    We had clouds. 😔

  • [Deleted User]donhulio (deleted user)

    @JoyfulHeart, you may be able to see a bit of it tomorrow. It's not supposed to reach as far south as tonight, but given how clearly as I saw it in Kansas - and I've seen pics from central Texas - I bet you'll have a chance to see a little color and streaking tomorrow (if clouds permit).

    https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental

  • [Deleted User]donhulio (deleted user)
    edited May 2024

    And @quixotic_life, you'll have a pretty good chance tomorrow as well according to the maps in my link above. It was visible well beyond the red line tonight, at least.

  • HollydollhugsHollydollhugs



  • Vintage_EmbraceVintage_Embrace

    So pretty and what an amazing rare event.

  • [Deleted User]zerogone40 (deleted user)

    I've got to say, thanks for these photos... they're awesome! Something about a red sky lulls me into a sense of wonder.

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    We may see these type of lights for a couple more nights as the the geomagnetic storm is probably going to last a couple more days. I have not heard of any reports of damage but it is possible they could damage electronic devices or anything plugged into the power grid unless you have good surge protectors on you TV, computers, etc.

    Here is a detailed explanation of the light show for anyone who is interested in the science behind coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

  • [Deleted User]donhulio (deleted user)
    edited May 2024

    @Hollydollhugs, are those photos from Georgia?

  • Vintage_EmbraceVintage_Embrace

    Thank you @JohnR1972 I appreciate this information and post.
    Can't wait to see tonight's beautiful Northern Lights event. I hear it should be brighter and more spectacular.

  • cuddlefaerycuddlefaery

    My partner juuuust missed seeing them as he got to come home early from Seattle last night. He's so mad 🤣 I just told him he may be able to see when he goes back Monday and now he's like a little boy "oh goodie!" Lol

  • TNcompassionTNcompassion

    Here in middle Tennessee, this is what we experienced.


  • [Deleted User]donhulio (deleted user)

    @TNcompassion, beautiful! Was that Friday or Saturday night?

  • TheMidnightOwlTheMidnightOwl

    Got it all the way down in AZ.

  • chillpotatochillpotato

    These pictures are so prettyy! 🥹

  • LadyVelLadyVel

    Friday. Not the best pics but still kinda cool.




  • cuddlefaerycuddlefaery

    We've had too much light pollution here and I haven't been well enough to drive out of town 😩

    Thank you, everyone, for sharing pics so I and others can live vicariously! 💖🤗

  • TNcompassionTNcompassion

    @donhulio this was Friday night. Clear sky, amazing show 🌟 ❤️


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