Aurora Surprises: South Texas shines with Northern Lights
This weekend’s geomagnetic storm is the strongest since October 2003
A rare spectacle lit up the sky over south-central Texas Friday evening: the Northern Lights!
This weekend, a powerful geomagnetic storm – the most intense since October 2003 – allowed these strong waves to extend further south than normal.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center reports that a group of sunspots has been firing solar flares, plasma and magnetic fields toward Earth in recent days, creating this powerful geomagnetic storm.
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are bursts of plasma and magnetic fields emanating from the solar corona.
When aimed at Earth, they cause geomagnetic storms that can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on the planet’s surface, disrupting communications, the power grid, navigation, radio operations and satellites. Additionally, these storms can produce beautiful auroras on Earth.
Sightings have been documented in the United States and around the world.
As the weekend progresses, the opportunities to witness these phenomena will increase.
The best way to view the Northern Lights in south-central Texas is from a location without city lights.
Phone cameras have proven effective at capturing colors, which may not be easily visible to the naked eye due to their sensitivity to light.
