St. Patrick's Day Aurora: Watch The Green Light Show Caused By A Powerful Geomagnetic Storm

Green is associated with St. Patrick's Day and auorae, so what better way to spend the holiday looking up at the night sky and the Northern Lights? What makes the St. Patrick's Day aurora even more special is a powerful geomagnetic storm caused by a solar outburst over the weekend. Slooh is hosting a special aurora live stream from Iceland. The broadcast will include a discussion with astronomer Paul Cox and begins at 6 p.m. EDT.

Tuesday experienced a severe geomagnetic storm that was classified G4 by the Space Weather Prediction Center. "A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth. These storms result from variations in the solar wind that produces major changes in the currents, plasmas and fields in Earth’s magnetosphere. The solar wind conditions that are effective for creating geomagnetic storms are sustained (for several to many hours) periods of high-speed solar wind, and most importantly, a southward directed solar wind magnetic field (opposite the direction of Earth’s field) at the dayside of the magnetosphere. This condition is effective for transferring energy from the solar wind into Earth’s magnetosphere," SWPC explains. A geomagnetic storm can lead to "widespread voltage problems," disrupt navigation systems and cause aurora as far south as Alabama, although it's unlikely the light show will be seen that far south.

The geomagnetic storm was caused by a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the sun on Sunday. CME is charged plasma hurled into space by the sun. The plasma has its own magnetic charge that interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. The CMEs barely hit Earth and the geomagnetic storm has not caused any damage to satellites, the Washington Post reported.

"This Tuesday we will have a ringside seat on Slooh to explore the shimmering spectacle of the Northern Lights," Will Gater, Slooh host, said in a statement. "With Paul Cox speaking to us live from Iceland we hope to capture some of the magic and emotion of watching this enthralling natural phenomenon. It promises to be a show you won’t want to miss!'