Missed the Northern Lights?

You still have a chance next night

(Bild: APA/EXPA/JFK)

If you missed the Northern Lights triggered by the strongest solar storm since 2003 last night, you will - with a bit of luck - have another chance on Sunday night. We have put together some information on how you can tell when the chances of seeing the celestial spectacle are best.

According to the Austrian Severe Weather Center (UMZ), which is operated by UBIMET, the largest private weather service in Austria, the arrival of two more CMEs - two large-scale solar flares in which plasma consisting mainly of electrons and protons is ejected - is expected. As this plasma hits the Earth's already heavily disturbed magnetosphere, the chance of auroras reappearing in Austria is high.

Good conditions on the northern side of the Alps
Although the weather forecast looks a little less favorable in the south and east of the country than it did on Saturday night, there will be larger gaps in the clouds at least occasionally during the course of Sunday night. However, according to the UWZ, good conditions are once again expected on the northern side of the Alps.

On Friday, Geosphere Austria (formerly the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics) announced on Facebook and Instagram that "quite good observation conditions for auroras are also expected in Austria on Sunday night". At least four solar storms are on their way to Earth, but it is difficult to estimate how strong the geomagnetic storm (and thus also the auroras, note) will actually be, they emphasized.

Northern lights in the sky over Zell am See(Bild: APA/EXPA/JFK)

Observe light-sensitive webcams
It is helpful to observe light-sensitive webcams, such as some cameras in the Alps - e.g. foto-webcam.eu or raxalpe.panomax.com. Information on the probability of the occurrence of visible auroras (also known as aurora borealis or northern lights, note) can be found HERE. They are particularly easy to observe from as dark a location as possible.

On Saturday night, the solar storm in Austria and in the neighboring countries of Germany (see video above) and Switzerland provided a colorful night sky until well after midnight. "Most observers in this country have never seen such spectacular northern lights before," Michael Jäger, chairman of the Martinsberg Astronomical Center in the Waldviertel region, told APA. "In addition to the red auroral stripes that are usually visible in our latitudes, the less frequently seen green auroral phenomena could also be observed."

The region of origin of the solar storms - a huge sunspot cluster - is around 16 times the diameter of our Earth, reported the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The last time category five, classified as "extreme", was reached was in October 2003 during the so-called Halloween storms. At that time, there were power outages in Sweden and transformers were damaged in South Africa.