Northern Lights to Illuminate Sky Across 22 States Tonight
A recent powerful solar event has triggered an impressive celestial display. Stargazers in New York and many other states could witness the northern lights tonight due to a strong geomagnetic storm.
Solar Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection Details
On November 5, an M7.4 solar flare erupted from the sun, releasing a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)—a burst of plasma and magnetic fields traveling at speeds between 2.5 and 3.1 million mph. This event activated both the northern and southern lights phenomena.
Expected Arrival and Impact
The CME is expected to reach Earth late on November 6 or early November 7, possibly causing a strong G3-level geomagnetic storm, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
"Watches have been issued for these times with moderate to high confidence in timing, and moderate confidence in magnitude," NOAA stated.
Potential Aurora Visibility
If this fast-moving CME arrives as forecasted, it could intensify auroras from the polar regions down to the US Midwest, offering spectacular views for northern lights enthusiasts.
"A whole train of big #solarstorms are on their way, along with some smaller storms hitting now, and some fast solar wind! It is an #aurora photographer’s dream starting now and lasting at least through the weekend," said space weather physicist Tamitha Skov on X.
Author’s summary: A strong solar flare has propelled a fast CME expected to spark vibrant northern lights visible across 22 US states this weekend.