There is just one possible explanation when the night sky is covered in curtains of bright light:
It’s the northern lights!
Perhaps you’ve already seen them.
If not, though, you might be lucky.
Canada, the northern United States, and northern Europe are typically where one may see the northern lights.
The likelihood of seeing the northern lights across Canada is higher than usual this year.
According to NASA, this is because we have entered the solar cycle’s apex, or solar maximum.
Why do the northern lights occur?
A stream of electrically charged particles is continuously released by the sun and travels across space before arriving at Earth. The solar wind is the name of this watercourse.
Once it arrives, it encounters the Earth’s magnetic field. In essence, the planet is surrounded by a force field.
The Earth itself is a magnet, as is any other object having a magnetic field.
Earth’s north and south magnetic poles are similar to those of bar magnets.
From one pole to the other, the Earth’s magnetic field’s lines point.
The magnetic field’s field lines are distorted as the solar wind pushes at it as it gets closer to Earth.
Speaking to CBC Kids News, Eric Donovan, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary, likened it to a wind sock that undergoes shape changes when the wind passes through it.
When the stretched field lines finally snap back, they release charged particles into the Earth’s atmosphere, much like a wind sock does when it stops blowing.
When they arrive, they collide with atmospheric particles. That is the reason behind the “aurora,” or glistening show of lights.
Northern lights increase with solar activity.
The auroral oval is the area where the normal magnetic field lines and the distorted magnetic field lines surrounding the poles meet. The northern lights are created here.
This oval may migrate slightly to the south, allowing the lights to be seen farther south, depending on the strength of the solar wind.
The cycle of solar activity, including solar wind, lasts around 11 years.
We are currently experiencing that cycle’s apex, or solar maximum. The sun will therefore be at its most active.
When there is more activity, the aurora can be seen more often and from a larger area than usual.
Southern Lights
The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are visible when auroras occur around the magnetic north pole.
However, the magnetic south pole is another location where auroras can originate.
We refer to these as the aurora australis, or southern lights.
A geomagnetic storm
A geomagnetic storm occurs when our magnetic field is disturbed by the solar wind.
The aurora is stronger when the storm is stronger.
Here on Earth, however, those storms can have different consequences.
A strong geomagnetic storm has the potential to bring down the electricity grid or induce blackouts, according to the Government of Canada’s space weather page.
However, in order for technicians to be ready for geomagnetic storms, organisations such as Natural Resources Canada forecast space weather.
The best time and location to witness auroras can also be predicted with the aid of these forecasts.
It may be a nice night to observe the aurora if a geomagnetic storm is expected but the sky appears clear and black.
