Heavy magnetic storm activity. Could it mean more Northern Lights?
Anytime there's any kind of heavy solar flare activity on our sun, the result is also geomagnetic storms around our planet, and that means more Northern Lights. (Or Aurora borealis.) Northern Lights are always spectacular to see, but not often visible in Washington state.
According to FoxWeather.com,
‘NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) said another strong X-ray flare happened on Saturday originating near the sunspot regions known as 3872 and 3873. It marks the second X-class flare since Thursday when an X3.3 flare happened from another region of the Sun. On Sunday, the SWPC issued a Geomagnetic Storm Watch after satellites detected coronal mass ejection particles heading toward Earth. That was upgraded to a Geomagnetic Storm Warning on Monday morning.
The NOAA space weather prediction center rates of solar storms on a scale of one to five. Their prediction is that this is going to be a moderate storm at about level 2. That unfortunately means for you night sky watchers that there will probably be no Northern Lights visible in Washington.
One of the downsides of this kind of solar activity is the potential damage that X-ray flares can cause to satellites. This is why all satellites are hardened against radiation which can damage delicate circuitry.
The International Space Station is also hardened against this kind of radiation because exposure is lethal to organic life.
It's a bit of a long shot, but there is the possibility that you might get to see some Northern Lights.
Good luck to you skywatchers.
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