Rare streaks of light above US are a sign that solar maximum is fast approaching

By Harry Baker published 1 day ago

The ethereal aurora-like light show could become a more common sight over the next few years as the sun's activity continues to ramp up.



These ethereal streaks of emerald light slowly drifted across the night sky above the West Elk Mountains in Colorado on June 21. (Image credit: Aaron Watson/Skies Alive Photography)

A photographer recently snapped images of vibrant green streaks of light hanging apparently motionless in the star-filled sky above a U.S. mountain range. The eerie light show may look like auroras, but it's actually an even rarer phenomenon.

Aaron Watson captured the stunning display near the West Elk Mountains in Colorado. The streaky emerald lights emerged just before midnight on June 21 and lasted for around 2 hours, during which they slowly shifted across the sky, Watson told Live Science in an email. Similar but less-intense versions of these lights were also spotted in other parts of Colorado, according to Spaceweather.com.

At first, Watson believed the lights belonged to noctilucent, or night shining, clouds, which were forecast to become more frequent in June and July this year. But as the vibrant colors emerged, this seemed unlikely. He also speculated they could be a slow-moving auroral display or a related phenomena, such as STEVE or a stable auroral arc that was set off by a solar storm bashing into Earth.

However, there was no solar storm at this time. Instead, the lights are the result of a phenomenon known as "airglow," which is triggered in the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere by less-extreme forms of solar radiation. Airglow is rarely seen from the ground, but it could become a more common sight in the coming months and years as solar activity ramps up, Spaceweather.com said.

More:
https://www.space.com/rare-streaks-of-light-above-sign-that-solar-maximum-approaching