Will there be more auroras in the coming days?

Less than a week ago we were able to see the sky turn into colors. auroras, which typically form in areas near the poles, have been spotted in much less common places, drawing the admiration of people from all over the world. This whole performance was the result intense solar activityas we are at the peak of the cycle that the royal star goes through every 11 years. Does this mean we could see more auroras in the coming days?

It is not easy to answer this question. It is true that solar activity continues to peak. In fact, it just came off recently. another solar flare. This implies the release of more charged particles, which can interact with gases in the atmosphere, causing more auroras to form.

The difference is that the region of the Sun where it originated doesn’t have as much of an impact on our planet as the one that produced last week’s auroras. And he said very roughIt must not only be an intense solar flare, but also directed at us.

Auroral Formation Reminder

Auroras are formed when charged particles from the sun They interact with gas molecules present in our atmosphere. This causes its atoms to become excited, releasing electromagnetic radiation in the form of light of different colors. The color depends both on the gas in question and on the altitude in the atmosphere at which it forms.

In the case of last weekend’s auroras, they were particularly red because they occurred highwhere the oxygen is not so concentrated and the red photons have time to separate before one molecule collides with another.

Will this happen again?

Solar activity continues 11 year cycles, at which it reaches its highest point, after which it begins to descend. It is clear that we are at the peak. The solar flare that produced last week’s auroras was the second most intense this solar cycle. As for the first, it happened literally yesterday.

He stated this in a statement National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center from USA.

“Region 3664 produced ANOTHER X-ray flare as it moved beyond the western edge of the Sun! This time it was an X8.7 flare, the largest of this solar cycle! Because of its location, any coronal mass ejection associated with this flare. probably “It will NOT have any geomagnetic impact on the Earth.”

US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center

Solar eruptions or flares release both charged particles and radiation at different frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. They can interact with ours telecommunications infrastructure, causing power outages or even destruction of turrets. In the case of the auroras over the weekend, there were some small telecommunications outages, but very minor.

This time there were no problems, since the flash was not directed at us, but it did not cause any auroras. And now the question of truth arises. Will there be more auroras?

Maybe yes, maybe not. Solar activity is not as easy to predict as the weather on Earth. The only thing that can be said is that auroras are more common at the end of the peak of the solar cycle than at the beginning. Since this has not yet been achieved, there is still hope.

In addition, the last such event occurred in 2003, and something interesting happened this year. The sunspot produced a series of auroras in unusual places, and a month later the same spot flared up. another much more intense flare, causing a wonderful spectacle of colors. Could the same thing happen to the sunspot that caused the auroras over the weekend? Maybe.

We already know that this sunspot has the perfect location for us to see the effects, so seeing more auroras would be a better option. If these were other sunspots, no matter how intense their activity, it would be logical that we would not see anything.

In short, we don’t know what will happen, so we better be careful. pay attention to the sky. Just in case.