Aurora glimpsed in the Maritimes late Monday night; possible again Tuesday night

Aurora borealis shines in Muskoka, Ont on May 11, 2024 (Courtesy: Andrew Watson).

Aurora spotted in the Maritimes

It was faint and near the horizon but the Aurora Borealis was visible in a few parts of the Maritimes late Monday night.

These pictures below were shared with me by Philomene Breau O’Connor who took them between midnight and about 1:30 a.m. The pictures taken at Cameron Beach, Port Howe, Nova Scotia.

Aurora activity is forecast to be high Tuesday night and Wednesday night of this week.

Viewing conditions

Partly cloudy Tuesday night with fog patches developing after midnight.

The North Shore of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, P.E.I., and eastern coastal areas of New Brunswick are all good candidates for glimpsing the aurora should it make a further appearance tonight.

Similar viewing conditions are expected Wednesday evening. Cloud increases and showers develop overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.

Best to get away from city lights and find as much of an unobstructed view of the northern horizon as possible. It is likely you will need to be patient and that the aurora will appear only faintly close to the horizon. If you get some pictures of the aurora this week, I’d love to see and share them. They can be sent in to [e-mail].

Cause of the active aurora this week

The Space Weather Prediction Center branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration attributes a recent series of ejections of solar matter from the sun (coronal mass ejections) as the cause of the increase in aurora.

As that solar matter collides with Earth’s magnetic field, it creates a geomagnetic storm.

Geomagnetic storms are rated on a scale of G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme). A G2/G3 storm is usually enough to get a faint visible aurora low on the northern horizon here in the Maritimes. The storm that produced the bright, overhead aurora in the Maritimes this past May was rated as G5 (extreme) in strength.