Predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Space Weather Prediction Center indicated that aurora borealis would have been visible from parts of the U.S. over Halloween weekend.
Also known as the northern lights, aurora borealis is the result of electrons energized in the magnetosphere colliding with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere, according to NOAA. Energy released from the collisions forms what looks like curtains of light around 80 to 500 km about the planet’s surface.
Video captured on Halloween by the Glacier Bay National Park Service in Alaska shows the effect.
Although aurora borealis is actually happening constantly, it can be tricky to see due to light pollution and overcast skies. It is most easily spotted in the “auroral zone,” a belt with a radius of 2500 km centered on the magnetic north pole. Aurora australis, the Southern Hemisphere version of the phenomenon, happens in a similar region around the magnetic south pole.
When space weather activity increases, the northern lights can be seen in a wider area, said NOAA. Late last week, the administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a geomagnetic storm watch after a solar flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun).
This storm could have made aurora borealis visible in the Northeast, Washington and parts of the Midwest, said the center.
While images of the atmospheric phenomenon were captured in Alaska over Halloween weekend, those hoping to catch the lights in Washington were disappointed.
According to the NOAA, a smaller geomagnetic storm watch is in effect this week.
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