All eyes on the skies!
A ‘once in a decade’ solar event is set to take place over the next few months.
The weather experts have revealed that NASA have confirmed the start of a ‘solar maximum’ which is expected to enhance solar displays over the next 12 months.
It’s a phase that happens every 11 years and is characterised by an increase in sunspots and solar flares.
It’s been suggested this could lead to “an ongoing chance of further space weather activity, and ultimately the potential for aurora visibility here on Earth”.
The Northern Lights have been more visible over the UK and Ireland over the last year thanks to solar winds from solar flares or coronal mass ejections (CMEs) interacting with our atmosphere.
The likelihood of seeing the Northern Lights, even at lower latitudes is expected to increase due to the solar maximum.
Krista Hammond, Space Weather Manager at the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre, told Chronicle Live: “We’re now in the solar maximum phase, which means there’s more frequent sunspots and solar activity in general.
“While it’s not possible to know precisely what this means for individual Earth-directed solar events, it does mean there will likely be further chances of aurora visibility in the UK in the coming months.”
She added that the solar maximum phase, which could last a year, makes it difficult to determine exactly when the number of sunspots peaked until after it has happened.
After the solar maximum concludes, solar activity will decrease, reaching the solar minimum during which aurora sightings will become less frequent but they will not disappear entirely.
Hammond explained: “While the total number of sunspots will start to reduce after solar maximum, we will continue to see space weather throughout the solar cycle, even as overall activity declines.
“Indeed, in some solar cycles, the larger events can happen as the Sun transitions back towards solar minimum.”
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