Thursday night’s northern lights show is all anyone is talking about

The geomagnetic storm that sent the aurora borealis far south Thursday has subsided. The current aurora map shows the oval aurora may be seen as far south as northern Iowa.

“The last week was simply incredible. At their strongest, the northern lights were visible overhead with the naked eye.

The amazing display of northern lights Thursday was witnessed by millions of people around the world, including in places such as Capetown, South Africa. Aurora chasers flooded social media with photos of the pink, red, purple, green and yellow lights.

For only the second time in two decades, NOAA issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch Wednesday after the sun fired off a strong X-class solar flare and coronal mass ejection carried to Earth by exceptionally fast solar winds. CMEs are large explosions of plasma and magnetized particles from the sun’s corona that can expand in size as they approach Earth’s atmosphere.

Mike Bettwy, the head of the SWPC’s forecast office, said aurora chasers are usually rewarded within a couple of hours after nightfall. Patience is a key, he said.

“The key is the magnetic orientation,” he said. “It’s remarkable how quickly the aurora can shut down and diminish, and just as quickly return.”

If the aurora doesn’t materialize this time around, there are plenty more chances for people to see them. Solar Cycle’s 25 solar maximum may not occur until early 2025, and even 2026 could be a busy year for solar activity.

Activity this solar cycle has surprised space weather scientists and forecasters. Solar Cycle 25 is the most active on record, and they’re not quite sure why.

“It’s one of the many mysteries to unravel,” Dahl said.