Sun Now at 'Solar Maximum,' Auroras Still for a Year Along Washington, Oregon Coast

Published 10/18/24 at 6:20 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Portland, Oregon) – If you're hoping for more chances to see the aurora borealis, the Sun is not going to give up its stormy personality for awhile, said scientists on Tuesday at a teleconference. NASA said the Sun appears to have now entered the Solar Maximum phase of the storm period that happens every 11 years or so, but that period of high activity could last another year. Its is far from “maxed out,” if you're looking to catch more of this in Oregon and Washington. (Above: photo from Seattle this summer, courtesy Sue Berry Sue Berry)

The Oregon coast and especially the Washington coast have seen some of the best northern lights action this year – photographically. If the Pacific Northwest (as well as the rest of the world) gets another wildly powerful display like the one in May is not guaranteed, however. In fact, one revelation from NASA this week was that according to written records kept around the world, that one could have been the most remarkable in 500 years.

This week, scientists from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Solar Cycle Prediction Panel made their announcement, which had been anticipated for some time by aurora borealis experts.

NASA said the Sun does this on a regular basis, though this cycle has not entirely surprised them – even with its run of displays as far south as Oregon a fair amount of time.

“The solar cycle is a natural cycle the Sun goes through as it transitions between low and high magnetic activity,” NASA said. “Roughly every 11 years, at the height of the solar cycle, the Sun’s magnetic poles flip.”

Essentially, that would be like the North Pole and South Pole trading places back and forth every decade. This causes an enormous amount of solar activity like sun spots, which can shoot out highly charged particles of solar material and even magnetic fields, sending them towards Earth. Many times they miss our planet, but when they hit with enough power they show up as Northern Lights. The more powerful the solar storm, the greater the chance we can see it farther south, and the brighter it can be.

This particular photo from Cannon Beach - taken by Solution 7 Media - shows a couple of unusual facets of the display. See That Which Glows Above and Below Oregon Coast – And Something New

On the opposite side of this solar cycle is Solar Minimum. In this case, images of the Sun show a more uniform surface. Solar Maximum creates a lot of darker sunspots, which can look like freckles.

“Sunspots are cooler regions on the Sun caused by a concentration of magnetic field lines,” NASA said. “Sunspots are the visible component of active regions, areas of intense and complex magnetic fields on the Sun that are the source of solar eruptions.”

They fire off the solar flares and the CMEs (coronal mass ejections). The latter is what results in material sent through space – called space weather – which hits us. Earth is covered in a sort of “shield” of magnetism, which is caused by the internal mechanisms of Earth's geology. This magnetosphere can help deflect debris from space like asteroids, but it also lights up if the right material from the Sun hits it.

Some of the best shots of the aurora this year came from Bandon - Manuela Durson Fine Arts

“During the most active part of the cycle, known as solar maximum, the Sun can unleash immense explosions of light, energy, and solar radiation - all of which create conditions known as space weather,” NASA said. “Space weather can affect satellites and astronauts in space, as well as communications systems - such as radio and GPS - and power grids on Earth.”

Some of the first astronomers back in Gallileo's time (in the 1600s) began watching sunspots and keeping records of the cycles.

The scene in Yachats earlier this summer. Jaklyn Larsen Photography

This current cycle has been extraordinary for human eyes, but it's only slightly impressed experts, in terms of how strong the solar storms have been. Really, the big difference in northern lights from previous cycles ten years ago or twenty has been the information and internet age. Everyone has a cellphone these days. It's similar to all the interesting finds along the Oregon coast in recent years: there's not more of this weird stuff happening or washing up (in most cases). It's social media sharing and the proliferation of ways to photograph it.

A relative of the aurora present all the time: Green Nightglow Above Us All the Time, You Just Didn't Know

NASA said it could be a whole year left of fun stuff in the skies - such as over Port Orford, Lincoln City, Seattle or Salem. The odd part is scientists won't really know it's going away until it's been fading for awhile.

“Scientists will not be able to determine the exact peak of this solar maximum period for many months because it’s only identifiable after they’ve tracked a consistent decline in solar activity after that peak,” NASA said.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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