A solar storm is on its way to Earth, and if we are lucky we will experience the northern lights also in the south of the country on Saturday night.
In Norway, it is normal in northern Norway and towards Svalbard that the northern lights dance in the sky almost every night.
– But when you get these extra powerful solar storms, which generate even more powerful geomagnetic storms, the northern lights will be able to extend all the way down into southern Norway, and sometimes further down into Europe, says Pål Brekke, solar scientist and head of space research at the Norwegian Space Center , to Dagbladet.
Brekke says that you may experience the northern lights all the way down to Germany, as the forecast looks now.
– The Northern Lights will probably be visible in southern Norway from around 19.00 to 02.00 tonight, because then it is furthest south, says Brekke.
The solar researcher says that you have to be patient if you want to catch the northern lights tonight, and you have to get out of the city.
– If you are very smart, you can log in to the website of Tromsø Geophysical Laboratory. There are curves that are updated every minute, which tell when there are northern lights near where you live.
Brekke emphasizes that it must be dark to be able to see the northern lights.
– It must be dark and clear, even though it has been warned far south, and if we are hit by it tonight and not today, it will be quite short. It may take half an hour, but it may come back. So you have to get out, dress well and be patient.
A good tip can be to get to the cabin tonight, if you want to get the northern lights. It is important to be a place without city lights and street lights, according to the solar researcher.
– If you get to the outskirts of the city, out on a field, or a few hundred meters into a forest, there is better visibility. Feel free to find a height, because sometimes the northern lights are only visible in the northern part of the sky.
SCARY: In the sky in Sichuan, China, a large supercell is hovering in the sky. Video: Kameraone / Dagbladet view more
–
Explosion on the sun
Brekke says that the solar storm that is now on its way to Earth is due to an explosion on the sun on Thursday.
CNN has also mentioned the expected northern lights. They say that NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has reported a so-called category G3 storm on the sun, which means that it can be a strong storm.
– After the explosion on the sun, the earth’s atmosphere was bombarded with X-rays, which affected GPS and radio communication, Brekke says.
In addition to the X-rays, which travel at the speed of light, a gas cloud formed that hit the earth on Saturday.
– The speed of the gas cloud is estimated to be 2.9 million kilometers per hour, but it must travel a distance of 150 million kilometers from the Sun to the earth, so it hits the earth in a few days.
If the gas cloud, or solar storm, shakes our magnetic field well when it hits the earth, then we get the northern lights in the sky.
LIGHT PHENOMENA: Tor-Ivar Næss (38) was going out to photograph the northern lights, when he discovered the phenomenon. Video: Tor-Ivar Næss / Dagbladet view more
–
– Earth’s billboard
– The stronger the storm, the further south the northern lights are pressed, says Brekke.
The solar researcher says that the mechanism is the same as in a fluorescent tube in the ceiling, or in a neon billboard.
– You can say that the northern lights are the earth’s own advertising sign, Brekke emphasizes.
There are three satellites that measure the speed of the solar storm, and Brekke says that we will receive a more precise warning one hour before the storm hits.
– What determines how far south the northern lights will be visible is whether the magnetic field the solar storm pulls away from the sun has the same direction as the magnetic field to the earth, or whether it hits in the opposite direction, the researcher says.
He compares it to a Brio train line, something many of us can relate to. You may have experienced putting two identical magnets against each other, and then trying two different ones and feeling that they blend together.
