The start of Advent this year could be accompanied by a special heavenly spectacle. A large plasma cloud has set course from the sun to Earth and could also cause the northern lights above Austria.
At the beginning of November, people in this country could already look forward to the rare colorful lights in the night sky. Now it could be that time again. On Wednesday evening, the Sun ejected a huge amount of plasma into space in a violent M9.8 outburst – just a few percentage points shy of the strongest Category X.
“Cannibalized” plasma causes the night sky to glow
In addition to the strength of the eruption, what is particularly important for auroras is the direction in which the plasma cloud is moving – and it clearly points towards the Earth. In its path, the solar storm could potentially ‘collect’ and ‘cannibalize’ several smaller and slower plasma clouds, resulting in a more powerful geomagnetic storm on Earth.
This year there have already been clearly visible Northern Lights several times in Central Europe, often even as far as the Alpine region and even further south – recently even as far as Greece. Because the sun is rapidly approaching its solar maximum, the chance of such spectacular Northern Lights events is correspondingly high.
Space expert: “A direct hit”
“A direct hit! The storm is expected to hit Earth around noon on December 1,” said NASA expert Tamitha Skov “Combined with two previous storms already underway, we have a strike of 1,2,3. If the magnetic field is properly aligned, the aurora will reach deep into the mid-latitudes,” Skov continued.
The weather could throw a spanner in the works
Whether they will actually be visible to the naked eye depends on the time of day the solar storm hits Earth. Because aurorae are only visible at night, the geomagnetic storm should ideally peak after dark. Since the nights are particularly long at the moment, the chances are increasing.
Of course, the weather situation also plays a very important role – and that could be the big spoilsport: Friday is expected to be very cloudy across the board – and there will be rain and snow, which will become more frequent and spread as the day goes on. progresses.
View towards the north
If the sky still shows mercy, you need the darkest sky possible; Because the Northern Lights in our latitudes move from the North Pole to the south (Aurora Borealis), you need to look north to spot them – ideally away from towns and cities with dark skies.
In the Southern Hemisphere the opposite is true: there the Northern Lights come from the South Pole (Aurora Australis) and travel north, so you have to orient yourself south.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
