There’s a chance that Canadians could be treated to a northern lights display, but those further south may not like their odds.
The U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued a geomagnetic storm watch for Dec. 10. And that means those in more northern latitudes have an increased chance of seeing the northern lights, otherwise called aurora borealis.
READ MORE: Why do we get the northern lights?
The cause of the increased chance stems not from the typical solar flare/coronal mass ejection, but rather a coronal hole.
Coronal holes are areas of the sun where the magnetic field opens up and allows the sun’s particles to stream out. If it faces Earth — which the SWPC says will occur on Dec. 10 — it can interact with Earth’s magnetic field where the particles stream in. When this happens, we see the interaction as the northern lights.
Now, those in southern Ontario, for example, may face more of a challenge to see them. That’s because the storm is expected to be at the lower end of strong. As well, the auroral hole (think of it as a donut-shaped hole around the north pole) will need to tip south in order for the aurora to be seen.
In order to increase your chances, try to head to a dark-sky location away from light pollution.
So, along with an increased chance of meteors the next couple of days, the night sky could give us quite a treat.
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