Northern lights forecast in US skies this weekend after powerful ‘cannibal’ solar storm

Skygazers in North America may see more northern lights over the weekend after the sun released a powerful “cannibal” solar storm earlier this week.

People in Canada, Alaska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas witnessed northern lights after powerful back-to-back blasts of radiation from the sun combined on their way to earth and transformed into a single large “cannibal” solar storm that struck the Earth on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Skygazers who missed that spectacle may have another chance to see the dazzling lights as another solar blast is likely to hit the Earth on Saturday, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Solar activity has increased of late and may remain so for the rest of this year.

Scientists say the sun is currently going through the high activity period of its 11-year cycle known as the Solar Maximum.

At Solar Maximum, a series of complex sunspots appear on the sun and cause frequent eruptions of material from its surface known as Coronal Mass Ejections, or CMEs.

CMEs arise when the sun’s magnetic field suddenly snaps and realigns, flinging energetic charged particles into space.

When these blasts of radiation hit the Earth, they interfere with the planet’s magnetic field and cause auroras.

Since the Earth’s magnetic field is stronger close to the north and south poles, auroras tend to be more visible there.

The space weather phenomenon is known as aurora australis in the southern hemisphere and aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere.

But more intense solar storms impacting the Earth can lead to stronger auroras stretching down closer to the equator than usual.

The range of colours in an aurora display comes from different molecules in the atmosphere getting charged by the geomagnetic storm.

For instance, oxygen in the upper atmosphere gives off a fluorescent green and yellow hue when it interacts with a solar storm while nitrogen gives a blue, red, or sometimes pink colour, and neon glows orange.

Geomagnetic storms are denoted by the letter G and rated from 1 to 5, with 1 a minor event and 5 an extreme one.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a G2 storm alert for 3 and 4 August. G2 and G3 storms have been known to interfere with power grids and cause voltage fluctuations.