A coronal mass injection which in its glory spews out a beautiful cosmic light show on Earth’s magnetic fields at high speeds would have been in time to welcome in New Year’s Eve. But it won’t be visible here in the States, despite reports to the contrary. Scientists had predicted a cosmic light show was heading toward Earth and but it is unlikely that most Americans will see it past specific areas of the West Coast.
Rather the aurora borealis, the technical name for a coronal mass ejection (CME) will likely have entered Oregon and its surrounding areas, with only a peek show in the California Bay Area, according to washingtonpost.com.
Much to the disappointment to CME fans, the Space Weather Prediction Center had predicted that only minor geomagnetic storms are possible for New Year’s Eve. While the December 31 storm would have provided a spectacular show for New Year’s Eve, the strongest activity was predicted to appear ahead of the celebratory date, December 30 and without much hoopla.
Although New Year’s Eve still has a shot at getting some activity, it will be difficult to see the aurora borealis. Its visibility will depend greatly on what’s happening in the sky. Any haze, for example, will dampen your efforts to catch a glimpse. Forget about seeing anything if you are competing with city lights.
The greatest chance for viewing any CME activity is if you happen to reside in a geomagnetic latitude of around 50 degrees or greater. If you know you are in such an area, keep in touch with the Twitter account, Aurora Alerts for updates on the force of the activity and hope for a strong aurora or else you might just miss the whole thing.