Aurora brightens northern skies, with more weekend activity possible

Lights, camera, action.

Dancing auroras lit up skies from North America to Europe over the past few days. Green, blue and purple lights entranced those who stayed awake into the wee hours of the morning. Minor to moderate activity is expected to continue over the next few nights.

In North America, aurora sightings were reported in Michigan, Washington state, North Dakota, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. In Europe, many posted photos of the northern lights from Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Czech Republic and beyond.

Auroras are created during geomagnetic storms when energy and particles from the sun temporarily disturb Earth’s magnetosphere. Some solar particles travel along Earth’s magnetic field lines into the upper atmosphere, exciting nitrogen and oxygen molecules and releasing photons of light. Intense geomagnetic storms can sometimes disrupt GPS communications or satellite operations.

Geomagnetic activity has elevated in recent days, as a series of eruptions from the sun earlier this week arrived at Earth. Moderate geomagnetic storms lasted for about six hours on Wednesday with minor levels continuing on Thursday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (NOAA’s SWPC). The center expects minor activity to continue through Friday into Saturday, although at higher latitudes than previous days.

The geomagnetic activity was weaker than what was forecast days earlier and clouds obstructed some views, but night owls were still able to capture beautiful photos from the ground and from aboard the International Space Station.

On a trip in Iceland, storm chaser Alex Spahn got lucky and witnessed the aurora borealis over an erupting volcano. The moment was fleeting, but he was able to capture the instant in a photograph.

“Unfortunately the clouds are winning. That may have been it for the night,” tweeted Spahn. “Can’t complain for my first real aurora.”

Others captured the aurora borealis along with a sighting of unique ghostlike blue and silver wisps, known as noctilucent clouds. Noctilucent, or night-shining clouds, are the rarest, driest and highest clouds on Earth and appear about 50 miles high in the layer of the atmosphere called the mesosphere.

But even without a volcano, night-shining clouds or a celestial view, the northern lights are exquisite on their own.