GALLERY: Northern Lights visible in the Natural State Friday evening
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Friday evening the Natural State skies were lit up more beautifully than normal as the aurora borealis was visible as far south as El Dorado.
The aurora borealis, more commonly known as the northern lights, are a natural light display that occur in the Earth’s high latitude areas close to the North and South poles.
When certain space weather reaches our magnetic fields, it sends particles rushing to the poles, NOAA explains. When those particles interact with oxygen and nitrogen, they can create auroras.
Arkansas Storm Team Blog: Northern Lights forecast – how far south could the Aurora be seen?
On Thursday, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issued a severe (G4) geomagnetic storm watch. This was the first time one has been issued since almost two decades ago, in 2005.
The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center expects at least 5 Coronal Mass Ejections to occur Friday and into the weekend. A Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME, is when a large cloud of solar plasma is ejected from the sun.
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