PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — The Northern lights danced across Southern skies Friday night and early Saturday morning.
WAVY viewers captured the celestial spectacle also known as the Aurora Borealis.
Cloud cover limited viewing for much of eastern Virginia and North Carolina, but a few places got a break in the clouds and were able to see them!
The best viewing was with your camera set to long exposure mode or night mode or in a really dark spot. We did not get any reports of viewings in Norfolk and Virginia Beach (likely due to clouds), but if you have a picture you captured, you can submit it at wavy.com/report-it.
According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, the geomagnetic storm peaked at a G5- the strongest level possible.
The energy that caused this solar storm originated from the sun, or more specifically from a cluster of sunspots on the sun. In these images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, you can see the cluster at the bottom right which is 16 times larger than the earth!
When a CME ejection occurs from these sunspots, it sends charged particles towards earth. This can react with our atmosphere and create the vivid lights of the Aurora Borealis.
Events like last night are rare – the last time we saw something like this was in October of 2003.
Will we see it again tonight? The data is still being analyzed, and there’s a chance some of the United States could see this again. For eastern Virginia and North Carolina, it’s unlikely we’ll see a show as spectacular as last night again – but those in dark spots could see some faint glow on the northern horizon.
We are in an active pattern of solar activity, so stay tuned as there may be more opportunities over the next few weeks to months!