In the Washington area, the Northern Lights are occasionally seen.

The Northern Lights, often known as auroras, were an uncommon sight in the skies of Virginia on Thursday night (and possibly the whole D.C. metropolitan area).

Social media users shared images from all across the world, including Virginia and the United States.

With persistent G3 and G4 (severe) geomagnetic storms, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center issued warnings all through the evening. Aurora - Aurora may be seen as low as Alabama and Northern California, according to NOAA's statement for the G4 Alert sent shortly after midnight.

I was able to capture images of the aurora using my iPhone Pro Max 13 in "Night Sky Mode" from my garden in central Virginia. I could see the lights on the iPhone, but I could hardly see them with my eyes.

Although it's possible to see auroras again on Friday night, the terrestrial climate and the D.C. region's location further south make clear skies less likely.

In the past 30 years, I have found auroras in Virginia three times: in 2003, 2015, and 2023. We might be fortunate once more, given how active the sun is at this solar cycle's halfway point.

How to get ready

Our best hope is to once more keep an eye on NOAA resources and social media for space-related news, such EarthSky.org and space.com. It would be worthwhile to stare toward the north from a dark sky location with a clear horizon if it looks like the aurora will be visible to neighboring northern states. If auroras are present, you might be able to see some color in the sky, although they will probably be low on the northern horizon. Wide-field binoculars could be useful. Use a camera or smartphone that can capture images of the northern horizon for several seconds at a time, making use of "Night Sky" or "Low Light" settings if your camera has them. Use a tripod or keep the camera steady for the best image quality. In case you're lucky, the camera might record an aurora that your eyes are unable to see.

We are directly impacted by "space weather," which can result in a number of occurrences, including Thursday's geomagnetic storm and the aurora, due to how important our terrestrial weather is to our daily existence.

Earth's interaction with the sun results in space weather, which is similar to our own terrestrial weather. Every new day, we can rely on it to provide the warmth and vitality we need to live. We have become accustomed to it being generally well-behaved as well. Unknown to many, our sun passes through an 11-year solar cycle that can have an impact on the space weather throughout our solar system.

On a daily basis, Spaceweather.com broadcasts an image of the sun and a forecast for space weather throughout the solar system.

We have been observing our sun, a 4.5 billion year-old star, since Galileo's time. Humans now possess a fleet of spacecraft that continuously track the sun and space weather.

Now in Solar Cycle 25, the sun is moving toward Solar Maximum, which is anticipated to take place in July 2025. More sunspots are created by the sun as it gets closer to Solar Maximum, and these sunspots in turn create solar phenomena like Thursday's Level G3 geomagnetic storm.

In 1859, the sun experienced an episode of strange behavior that, if it happened today, could have an impact on our society's reliance on technology and communications if we weren't prepared.

The English astronomer Richard Carrington witnessed the solar eruption that took place on September 1, 1859, and it is in his honor that the event is known today. Nothing like the Carrington Event has ever been observed again, and we are fortunate that it hasn't. It was a turning point in solar astronomy and the understanding of how the sun affects the Earth.

The impact on contemporary infrastructure, particularly the electrical grid on which we all rely, could be devastating if a solar event of the Carrington level occurred now. If you believe that this is improbable or too fantastical to be true, I advise you to read the 2008 study from the National Academies of Science.

On March 12, the sun experienced a very strong space weather event that, thankfully for us, took place on the opposite side of the sun from where Earth is located in the solar system.