New York City residents were treated to a spectacular display as the northern lights bopped across the sky on Thursday evening.
Celestial hues of green, blue, pink and purple were seen as far as Boston, Washington DC and parts of the Southeast. While many cities have high light pollution that makes it difficult to see the auroras, it is possible to view them from a flat area that has a view of the horizon, with the best viewing times set to be between 10pm and 2am. The aurora can be seen from as much as 1000 km away when it is bright and the conditions are clear.
But will there be another opportunity to see the lights from New York City on Friday?
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center, there is a slight chance as G1 and G2 conditions are still feasible, meaning that the event could be seen from high altitudes and as low as New York and Idaho. The G1 conditions could impact migratory animals, weaken power grid fluctuations, and cause minor impacts on satellites.
G2 conditions could damage transformers with long duration storms, affect orbit predictions and require corrective actions to spacecraft orientation.
Still, a spokesperson told The Independent that the cause of the aurora is waning and the event is weakening. The event is caused by disturbances in the Earth’s magnetosphere that triggers a coronal mass ejection from the sun. As solar wind increases in speed and the interplanetary magnetic field embedded in the solar wind turns southward, the geomagnetic activity will increase and the aurora will become bright, the agency’s website states.
If skywatchers are unable to catch a glimpse of the aurora, other light shows are available to view this month. There is supermoon on October 16 and the Orionids meteor shower around October 20 and 21.
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