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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a "severe" geomagnetic storm watch for Sunday into Monday. As a result of the storm, the Northern lights may be visible across the United States Sunday night, with states as south as Alabama and southern California being able to views the colorful phenomenon. Rob Steenburgh, science and operations officer at the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to break down what a geomagnetic storm is, why it's labeled "severe," and what the public can expect to experience.

The states that will likely see the natural light phenomenon, known as the Aurora Borealis, are Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a Kp index of four on a scale of nine was forecasted for Saturday night. That number signifies that the northern lights will be “quite pleasing to look at” since they will be brighter, and come with more motion and formation. The Aurora Borealis — which occurs from an interaction of solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field —...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A severe geomagnetic storm could make the northern lights visible in many parts of the United States this week, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G4 geomagnetic storm watch for Thursday, Oct. 10, and Friday, Oct. 11. G4 watches are one step below the most extreme watch. During G4 watches, NOAA said voltage control problems are possible within the power grid, and radio and satellite function can be degraded, sporadic or disrupted. According to the watch, the storm will likely “lead to highly elevated geomagnetic activity.”...

Earth could suffer the worst solar storm in 165 years as six streams of plasma that erupted from the sun this week are set to make crash into our atmosphere tonight. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed Friday that the worst-case scenario would be what happened during the 1859 Carrington event, which set telegraph stations on fire, cutting communications worldwide. In our modern-day society a geomagnetic storm - a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere- of that magnitude would cause widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts and damage to critical infrastructure.

A meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas found webcam footage showing the northern lights, aka aurora borealis, appearing over southern Nevada early Friday morning. Matthew Woods knew to check webcams for the aurora borealis Friday morning because National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center had forecast a strong geomagnetic storm would occur. He spotted the aurora, which appear as pillars of light traveling across the sky, in footage captured by a Bureau of Land Management camera on Angel Peak at nearly 9,000 feet. The mountain is 30 miles from the Strip, as the crow...

Skywatchers who caught sight of the shimmery display posted images from Yreka and Lakeport and from aboard a flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix. The northern lights are most commonly on display in the farthest reaches of the world, and people travel to places like Iceland and Greenland to see them, but according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a geomagnetic storm made the phenomenon visible as far south as Alabama, as well as Northern California, on the night of March 23. exp-player-logo Read More Greg Williams, president of the Shasta Astronomy Club, said that a geomagnetic storm is...

The National Weather Service said that a severe geomagnetic storm alert was in effect Thursday night, with the northern lights visible as far south as Alabama and Northern California. Cameras operated by PG&E near Mt. Shasta recorded auroras just after 9 p.m., and a passenger on a flight from Alaska to Washington was able to capture video of the northern lights, according to local media outlets.

Okay, who did this?The Black Bat Cat SquadAnd as if Halloween isn’t scary enough as is, there’s this:The Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a Strong Geomagnetic Storm Watch for Oct. 30 through Oct. 31. This watch has been posted due to a significant solar flare and Coronal Mass Ejection from the sun that occurred in the late morning on Oct. 28…The Space Weather Prediction Center has posted a level G3 Geomagnetic Storm Watch, which is considered strong.“Strong” is smack dab in the middle of the 1-5 scale. So don’t expect much in the way of power system interruptions, but...

NOAA issued a G3, or "strong" geomagnetic storm watch, for Saturday and Sunday ahead of the flare slamming into the Earth. The scale for geomagnetic storms runs from G1, or minor storm, to G5, an extreme storm. This geomagnetic storm could cause voltage irregularities and false alarms on some protection devices, NOAA warns. It also could cause high frequency radio blackouts and loss of radio contact on the sunlit side of the earth. The most visible effect from the impending geomagnetic storm is it will likely supercharge the aurora borealis, making it visible across large parts of the US and...

Many people dream of seeing the Northern Lights one day. For photographers, the phenomenon known as Aurora borealis is not just a bucket list item; it's a chance for the shot of a lifetime. Often shooting at night in freezing weather, these photographers must put all their astro and night photography skills to the test. The resulting images capture these otherworldly sights, as well as the beautiful locations over which the greenish lights dance. For the third year, editor and astrophotographer Dan Zafra of the website Capture the Atlas has curated the best 25 images of the enchanting lights from...

A Geomagnetic Storm Watch has been issued for Dec. 9th - 11th. It could bring the Northern Lights down into Michigan. On Monday, Dec. 7 a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), which is an event where the sun releases a significant amount of charged particles, was detected by the Space Weather Prediction Center. The particles generated by this event are predicted to reach Earth starting Wednesday night and lasting through Friday, Dec. 11. The highest activity is expected on Thursday, Dec. 10, but if that peak falls during daylight hours we won't be able to see anything. Our best chances are...

In a rare atmospheric shift, Earth’s seasonal aurora borealis, otherwise known as the Northern Lights, will be visible to some northern states in the contiguous United States. What are the Northern Lights? The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has forecast a trend of geomagnetic storms, also called solar storms, to continue through Tuesday, September 29. These celestial weather patterns, like a shockwave of particles from the sun, bombard Earth’s magnetic shield. The interplay between those solar particles with Earth’s atoms and molecules of oxygen, nitrogen and other elements causes a dazzling dance of lights in green, indigo and violet. Where...

van Vagner, a Russian astronaut with the International Space Station (ISS), claims he captured the sight of five unusual lights, which some are calling a UFO, on a video that has gone viral. “Cosmonaut Ivan Vagner recently captured footage of the auroras over the Antarctic. ‘5 objects’ appeared in the the time-lapse according to Vagner in a tweet. The imagery was sent to Roscosmos for analysis,” Video From Space wrote on YouTube, sharing the video. Vagner first revealed the video on Twitter. He wrote, “Space guests, or how I filmed the new time-lapse. The peak of aurora borealis when passing...

By comparing data collected by all-sky cameras, magnetometers, and seismometers during three aurora events in 2019, University of Alaska Fairbanks seismologist Carl Tape and colleagues show that it's possible to match the striking display of lights with seismic signals, to observe the same phenomenon in different ways. Researchers have known for a while that seismometers are sensitive to magnetic fluctuations—and have worked hard to find ways to shield their instruments against magnetic influence or to remove these unwanted signals from their seismic data. But the aurora study offers an example of how seismometers could be paired with other instruments to...

A NASA intern has discovered a new type of aurora in 3-year-old video footage of the Arctic sky. With the help of NASA scientists and a satellite, Jennifer Briggs, a physics student at Pepperdine University, connected the unusual aurora to a sudden retreat in Earth's magnetic field. It's the first time scientists have seen an aurora caused solely by a compression of Earth's magnetic field. Usually, auroras dance across the sky when a lot of high-energy particles from the sun, called solar wind, flood over Earth. But in this case, the sun didn't show any unusual or heightened activity.

You’ll have the best chance of seeing the phenomenon Saturday after sunset from about midnight to 2 a.m., You’ll need to find an area away from the bright lights of the city—and make sure you’re pointed north. The Space Weather Prediction Center offers an online tool allowing you to track aurora conditions. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/node/45

The northern lights (above) and their lesser-known sibling the southern lights, aurora borealis and aurora australis, respectively, undulate across the skies in hazy green and sometimes red ribbons near Earth’s polar regions. The two phenomena aren’t identical, however, and now researchers think they know why. Aurorae appear as solar wind, a gust of charged particles emitted by the sun, blows across Earth’s magnetic field. Because the charged particles flow along symmetrical lines in Earth’s magnetic field linking the north and south poles, it made sense to assume the atmospheric displays in each hemisphere would mirror each other. Advances in Earth...

Explanation: The Aurora Borealis or northern lights are familiar visitors to night skies above the village of Reine in the Lofoten Islands, Norway, planet Earth. In this scene, captured from a mountaintop camp site, the auroral curtains do seem to create an eerie tension with the coastal lights though. A modern perspective on the world at night, the stunning image was chosen as the over all winner in The World at Night's 2016 International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. Selections were made from over 900 entries highlighting the beauty of the night sky and its battle with light pollution.

Stargazers may be in for a rare cosmic light show this week as the northern lights dance across the night sky. Monday night and Tuesday night will both bring the chance for people in Canada and the northern United States to see the northern lights as an influx of charges particles from the sun interacts with the earth's atmosphere. People from New Hampshire to Nebraska will have the best conditions for viewing the aurora, with mainly clear skies expected on both nights.

People living in some southern parts of England could have the best chance ‘in years’ to see the Northern Lights tonight. Intense solar activity two days ago means that light displays from the aurora borealis could be much brighter and visible far further south than usual, according to scientists. A vast solar storm heading this way could see KP Index readings – the way in which Northern Light visibility is measured – grow from one (visible in northern Scandinavia) to seven (visible in southern Wales and parts of southern England), according to forecasts from the Space Weather Prediction Centre in...