The sun has entered a solar maximum. This solar maximum could continue for up to a year — the climax of its 11-year cycle, described by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in a recent article:
“Roughly every 11 years, at the height of the solar cycle, the Sun’s magnetic poles flip — on Earth, that’d be like the North and South poles swapping places every decade — and the Sun transitions from being calm to an active and stormy state,” said the article, written by Abbey Interrante.
The Arbiter spoke to Laura Brandt, project manager at Aurorasaurus, a participatory science project that maps both the northern and southern lights with crowdsourced reports through their website.
What causes auroras?
“Auroras are caused by an intricate dance between particles and magnetic fields from the sun and our magnetic fields around the earth. So the sun is effectively singing to us more,” said Brandt.
“It’s releasing more energy and more particles more frequently because it’s very active. You’ll see more sunspots, more coronal mass ejections, which is like when the sun sneezes particles and magnetic fields at us,” Brandt said. “[There are] more coronal holes, which allow for fast solar wind that creates auroras as well.”
“There are a lot of really great things going on on the sun that can trigger auroras,” Brandt said.
Brandt said this is effectively the first solar maximum wherein so many people have cameras that can perceive the auroras.
“We now have cameras capable of capturing the subvisual auroras that our eyes can’t quite pick up on, If you’re hearing that there’s a lot of auroras around, but you’re not seeing it with your eyes, take out your phone camera and put it on ‘night mode’ and you may be able to pick it up that way,” Brandt said.
When was the last occurrence?
According to the aforementioned NASA article, Interrante wrote that in May that they saw the strongest geomagnetic storm in 20 years. But what viewers saw may be far more historic.
“During May 2024, a barrage of large solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields toward Earth, creating the strongest geomagnetic storm at Earth in two decades — and possibly among the strongest displays of auroras on record in the past 500 years.”
How should I view the aurora?
First, Brandt recommends finding a nearby aurora chasing group.
“If you don’t have one close to you, look for one directly north of you,” said Brandt.
The Arbiter didn’t find an easily located aurora chasing group in Idaho, but there is a large Facebook group called Alberta Aurora Chasers and another for Southern British Columbia Aurora Chasers.
Because auroras are visible only at night, Brandt advises caution. Brandt said it’s important to find a safe place to go if you wish to watch the aurora. Basic safety measures like traveling in groups, notifying friends and family of your plans and whereabouts and being aware of your surroundings will go a long way.
If you want to photograph an aurora, it will be most visible using night mode on a phone, or long shutter speeds and low aperture settings on a camera.
Will it continue?
Signs point to yes. According to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), scientists won’t know when the solar maximum hits its peak until after the fact.
“Scientists anticipate that the maximum phase will last another year or so before the Sun enters the declining phase, which leads back to solar minimum,” said the NASA article.
Essentially, NASA and NOAA predict another year of intense solar activity, which means another year of potentially very visible auroras.
