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People in Saskatchewan might want to find a good spot to look at the night sky this week, as a solar storm might offer a good chance to watch the northern lights.
Natural Resources Canada observed coronal mass ejections (ejections from the Sun’s outer surface) on Saturday and Sunday, and put a geomagnetic storm watch into effect, which is expected to last until Wednesday.
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Due to the big horizons and relative lack of light pollution, southern Saskatchewan is a “fantastic” place to watch northern lights according to Samantha Lawler, an associate astronomy professor at the University of Regina.
“The Sun had a couple of nice eruptions that were directed toward the Earth, so this means that there’s a lot of these high-energy particles,” Lawler explained.
“The solar wind is very dense, and that will interact with Earth’s magnetic field once it gets here, and that results in beautiful northern lights.”
Kyle Reiter, a space weather analyst with Natural Resources Canada, said a sequence of three or four coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is expected to arrive over the next couple of days.
Reiter said the most intense displays of northern lights are usually seen around midnight.
“It really depends, in this case, on exactly when the CMEs are going to be arriving. We get about 30 minutes to an hour notice of exactly the timing,” he said.
“We take images of the Sun to get a good idea of how fast and where they’re directed, but our first direct measurement of them is from spacecraft – kind of directly between the Sun and Earth – and that gives us about a half an hour (to) hour warning.”
Reiter said people can monitor the current magnetic conditions online.
He said people should also take a look at their local weather conditions to make sure the sky is going to be clear overnight if they want to view the northern lights.
Reiter said the Sun is currently going through a solar maximum, the peak of its 11-year cycle.
“We’re expecting to see more activity on the sun, more solar flares, more coronal mass ejections that can lead to these kinds of intensified rural displays,” Reiter said.
Lawler said it takes a “pretty good storm” to be visible in southern Saskatchewan, as less powerful storms usually happen closer to the poles.
“The next few months are going to be excellent for aurora shows, so if you missed this one or if it doesn’t turn out that amazing, don’t worry, there will be more,” Lawler said.
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