Wyoming appears to have become the center of the auroras with another spectacular display of celestial lights early Monday morning, something that is expected to become even more frequent this week.

The geomagnetic storm that manifested as an aurora on Monday was the latest during the 11-year solar maximum, and there’s a good chance there will be even better displays before the end of the year.

“The sun is still very active and will likely remain so for the rest of the year,” said Don Day, meteorologist at Cowboy State Daily. “We could expect more auroras before the end of the months, especially in September and October.”

Better space weather

Sunspots on the Sun’s surface produced several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that reached Earth over the weekend. According to the Space Weather Center, the geomagnetic storm they created as they interacted with the planet’s atmosphere reached its maximum intensity as a severe G4 storm.

That would put Monday’s CME on par with the mid-May event that produced the best auroras in nearly two decades. But Day said the peak of that geomagnetic storm is likely over.

“The peak of this CME was probably last night,” Day said. “NASA predicted the geomagnetic storm would have subsided by Tuesday. That’s not to say there won’t be auroras tonight, but they probably won’t be as visible and widespread as they were last night.”

There is a lot to see

The auroras were visible in Wyoming and across the northern United States overnight into Sunday. The energy from the coronal mass ejection was strong enough to last into daylight hours Monday morning over Siberia on the other side of the Earth.

Additional auroras would give Wyoming residents plenty to watch. The Perseid meteor shower reaches its annual peak this week — the best display is expected early Tuesday morning — meaning you could see meteor fireballs streaking across the rainbow bands of an aurora.

“When everything lines up right, we can get these auroral events,” Day said. “Last night was one of those nights where everything line up right, and it ended up being a pretty strong event.”

Buffalo photographer Breanna Klamm Whitlock was lucky. While out photographing the Northern Lights, she also captured a stunningly bright and clear meteor from the Persian Seas.

“It was so bright, it was incredible,” she said of the meteor shimmer in the sky. “I was out there more for the auroras than the meteor shower. But that lasted about three seconds. It was pretty cool.”

Geomagnetic geometry

Solar Maximum – Part of the star’s well-observed 11-year cycle when the Sun has an abundance of sunspots on its surface. These sunspots have the potential to produce more coronal mass ejections, making it the best time to observe auroras in the Wyoming night sky.

Data suggests the sun is currently at solar maximum. Day said an already great year for auroras could get even better thanks to our planet’s “geometry” and its position during solar maximum.

“We’re right at solar maximum,” he said. “Sunspot activity is at its highest in a long time. There’s a certain geometry to the position of the Earth and the Sun that slightly increases the chances of auroras. Last night was one of them, and we’ll probably have more opportunities before the year is out.”

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Auroras surprise many stargazers, but this recent geomagnetic storm was no happy coincidence. Day said the Space Weather Center had predicted that a coronal mass ejection would reach Earth sometime between Friday and Monday.

“They predicted this would happen,” he said. “Geomagnetic storms don’t always produce auroras this far south. The stars have to be in a line and the sunspots have to be facing the Earth when they produce coronal mass ejections.”

NASA’s websites, social media channels, and Space Weather Prediction Center are the best resources for space weather forecasts. They regularly monitor sunspot activity and detect when CMEs are on a low-Earth trajectory.

However, their predictions can be very broad, covering multiple days when CMEs might manifest as auroras. Day recommends that auroral enthusiasts visit these websites regularly, especially during solar maximum, so they’ll have a better idea of ​​where and when to wake up and look for auroras.

“How many times do we hear, ‘Oh, we’re going to have auroras tonight,’ and then nothing happens?’ Day said. “Then a night like last night happens and people say, ‘I didn’t know there would be any.’ You have to stay informed. I recommend using these resources to know when the chances might be better on a particular night than other nights.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at [email protected].