Solar storm could make aurora visible in major cities: aurora chaser

Edmontonians might get a chance to see the northern lights on Monday night.

Northern lights may be visible in Alberta’s biggest cities Monday night, according to a group of dedicated aurora chasers.

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A solar flare on the sun Sunday morning is sending plasma from the sun’s corona toward Earth, which is expected to arrive sometime before midnight Monday.

It’s possible the resulting aurora could fill the sky, potentially overpowering city lights.

“Within the city limits, it’s usually a little bit harder to see anything beyond green…. But we are expecting to see more than just the green. Typically, when we have a strong event like this, especially in the last few years, we’ve seen reds and pinks associated with that activity,” explained Chris Ratzlaff with the Alberta Aurora Chasers group.

Generally, leaving an urban centre and its light pollution is recommended for aurora viewing, but there’s a good chance that won’t be necessary on Monday, Ratzlaff said.

“The hope is that we will have it high in our sky. We can often see the northern lights low on the northern horizon, but the hope is that we see it overhead and potentially… filling the entire sky from (the) northern horizon to southern horizon,” he told CTV News Edmonton.

Those who do seek a clearer show should look for a public area where they can park their vehicle for a couple of hours, away from big crowds and other lights, Ratzlaff advised.

Although the lights are expected to be visible before midnight, the timing is only an educated guess. Ratzlaff recommends following Alberta Aurora Chasers or a different group that predicts solar events.

Aurora borealis, or northern lights, is the visible interaction of charged solar material interacting with the earth’s magnetic field.

“We’re in what’s called a solar maximum right now, which is a heightened period of solar activity. As that calms down over the next five years, we’re going to see fewer and fewer large events like this,” Ratzlaff said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s David Ewasuk