All across Florida and the United States, people looked into the night sky in May, and witnessed an amazing sight: the northern lights, or aurora borealis.
What caused the phenomenon? A very rare geomagnetic storm sent a barrage of coronal mass ejections from the sun that caused northern lights to be visible in the Sunshine State on May 10.
People from across the United States and the world posted photos on social media showing the phenomenon in the night skies. And those enjoying the show may get the chance to see it all again.
The solar flares originated from a gigantic sunspot, a dark area on the sun over 15 times wider than Earth, according to LiveScience. The sunspot continues producing strong solar flares and the sun’s rotation will have it facing Earth again on June 6 and again during a new moon.
Aurora borealis/northern lights forecast for June 6. Will Florida see the nighttime show?
Conditions for a northern lights display across the U.S. could be favorable when a massive sunspot faces Earth on June 6 as the sun rotates on its axis.
The sunspot is still active and discharging solar flares – bursts of radiation considered our solar system’s largest explosive events – and there will be a new moon on June 6, meaning no moon will be visible in the night sky.
As solar storm particles are diverted to the north and south poles, they glow in various colors depending on the atmosphere’s chemical composition.
Read the full story here: Aurora borealis may light up sky again in June. Will northern lights be visible in Florida?
Northern lights or aurora borealis seen in Florida in May 2024
Northern lights seen around the United States
Laura Lordi is Digital Editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at llordi@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Northern lights in Florida may happen again in 2024. When to expect.
Signup bonus from
