When and why might aurora borealis be seen in New York today, July 24?
New York and some other states could be treated to the Northern Lights tonight. The sight will be brought about by another celestial phenomenon.
Residents of New York and some northern and upper Midwest states could soon witness one of the most impressive astronomical phenomena that can be viewed from the Earth- the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, there is a strong chance that the northern lights will be visible on Wednesday, July 24 in several states.
This will be possible thanks to a coronal mass ejection that was observed on Sunday. The CME, also known as an “eruption on the sun”, creates the northern lights when it sends columns of solar material towards the Earth.
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States that might be able to see the northern lights this week
According to NOAA, the northern lights could be seen in several northern and midwestern states from New York to Idaho, which includes Montana, Minnesota, Michigan and Maine. At the moment, it is expected that the auroras could light up the sky on Wednesday night.
Auroras are usually seen as bright curtains of green light, although, depending on their composition and density, the lights can take on pink, purple, blue, and even reddish tones.
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact arrival time of aurora borealis. Some scientists say the storm could be late due to slow solar wind movement.
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What are the northern lights?
According to National Geographic, the northern lights are the result of the interaction between gases in the Earth’s atmosphere with the solar wind. The phenomenon occurs when ions shoot out of the Sun in all directions.
“When the solar wind reaches Earth, it collides with the planet’s magnetic field, producing streams of charged particles that flow toward the poles. Some of the ions become trapped in a layer of the atmosphere called the ionosphere, where they collide with gas atoms and ‘excite’ them with extra energy,“ explains National Geographic.
This action releases energy in the form of light particles or photons, resulting in the northern lights.