The solar storm that sparked so much debate this week got its second wind overnight, rewarding aurora aficionados from the Arctic to the Lower 48 to Australia.
We're almost getting used to great views of the northern lights from places like Iceland (see above), Scandinavia and Russia — but last night's lights were visible from the top tier of the United States as well.
"Simply the most spectacular sighting ever, for me," a skywatcher from Pierz, Minn., wrote in a note to the Auroral Activity Observation Network. "While the color was only green, I witnessed curtains and rays, with much shifting. Most incredible were the pulsations, about two per second, that extended to zenith. ... Simply magical."
Other sightings have come in from Washington state, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Someone ever reported seeing a "very diffuse greenish glow" in the skies over Wyoming. "Would not have known that it was aurora if I wasn't paying attention to the current solar activity," the anonymous observer wrote.
Will tonight provide another southerly show? It's hard to predict, but the sunspot region that sent the big outburst our way, known as AR1429, appears to be growing and is sending out fresh blasts. Late Thursday, AR1429 shot out an M6.3-class flare, sending another coronal mass ejection toward Earth. That CME is expected to arrive early Sunday morning, "adding to the geomagnetic unrest already under way," SpaceWeather.com reported.
To figure out whether you have a chance of seeing the northern lights, keep an eye on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ovation Auroral Forecast map as well as the University of Alaska's Aurora Forecast website. If you're in the aurora zone, you can maximize your chances by getting far away from city lights, finding a place with good northern exposure and keeping watch between "magnetic midnight" and dawn. Tonight will be tricky, because the glare from the just-past-full moon might interfere — but as these pictures illustrate, the view might well be worth the trouble.
Here are a few more auroral highlights, including an unusual time-lapse video view of the southern lights from Tasmania. For still more, check in with SpaceWeather.com:
More auroral glories:
- Solar storm lights up northern skies
- Rocket flies into the northern lights
- Aurora extravaganza glows in space
- Planet looks back at the northern lights
- Auroras spark awe across the north
- Slideshow: The best of the northern lights
- Cosmic Log's auroral archive
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
