Montana’s night sky has been "lit" as the kids say as one of the best northern lights in years has been visible.
Earth's magnetic field continues to reverberate from a major solar storm. It was a strong G3 Class, and these severe storms can impact earth in other ways besides lighting up the sky. Power systems can be affected with voltage corrections being required and false alarms can be triggered on some protection devices.
Spacecraft operations can also be impacted as satellite components are hit with increased drag requiring corrections for orientation problems. Satellite navigation and low-frequency radio problems may also occur.
Then, of course, there are the lights. Solar storms of this magnitude produce lights pretty far south. States like Colorado, Ohio, and even New Jersey had color in the sky.
The storm is currently ongoing with much of northern Europe getting a show on Monday. All forecasts indicate another night of activity for the northern tier of the United States.
