The Northern Lights were visible in Illinois, Indiana; will we see them again tonight?
A rare severe geomagnetic storm from space meant that Chicagoans got a chance to see the Northern Lights Friday night and may get more chances this weekend.
While the Northern Lights weren't so easy to see in the heart of downtown Chicago, there was quite a show on display in Northwest Indiana.
The Ogden Dunes Fire Department, about 50 miles away from Chicago, sent photos of the dazzling sights.
CBS Chicago Director of Digital Content John Dodge sent some photos from his backyard in Munster, Indiana.
The effect was a little more subtle in north suburban Park Ridge, but still surreal in these photos from Joanna Potakis.
While that was all pretty spectacular, there is also a concern that the storm could disrupt navigation systems, radio communications, and the power grid. Federal officials said on Friday that "operators of critical infrastructures" such as power grids were notified.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, at least five "coronal mass ejections" from the Sun could arrive between Friday and Sunday. The sunspot cluster that caused the flares is 16 times the size of Earth.
"A coronal mass ejection is a huge explosion on the surface of the sun usually caused by roiling plasma and twisted and convoluted magnetic fields," said Kris McCall, the director of the Cernan Earth and Space Center at Triton College.
For those who saved their glasses from the recent solar eclipse, it is possible to see the sunspot with them. Those spots are 93 million miles away.
A coronal mass ejection is an eruption of solar material. Watches at the severe level are very rare, the center said. This is the first severe (G-4) watch for Earth since 2005.
McCall said it has the potential to impact communications, electrical systems, and GPS, so "If you're accustomed to having very precise GPS measurements during the height of the storm, that accuracy will likely go away."
What are the Northern Lights?
As a result, the Northern Lights, which occur when energized particles from the Sun collide into the Earth's atmosphere, were expected to be seen as far south as Alabama this weekend. Known as the Aurora Borealis, the violent clash creates vivid, moving ribbons of light across the sky.
The odds of seeing the Northern Lights in Chicago over the weekend were quite good. After a rainy Friday, skies cleared up in the evening. The prediction center expected the space storm to arrive by early Saturday, and thus, the Northern Lights were visible for some on Friday night.
The lights could also be visible on Saturday night into Sunday morning. However, as of Friday night, the exact timing was not certain.
To get a good view, it is best to travel away from the city and avoid light pollution.
Are geomagnetic storms rare?
Only three severe geomagnetic storms have been observed since December 2019. However, those storms did not cause any concern here on Earth.
The last extreme storm occurred in October 2003 and caused power outages in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.
