LITTLE ROCK — People across the state got a look at a rare sight on Monday night when an unexpected aurora was visible in the night sky.
According to a release on the Space Weather Prediction Center website, the aurora arrived when "The Coronal Mass Ejection observed Saturday morning arrived late Monday (EDT and GMT), about eight hours earlier than model guidance suggested."
Joe Goudsward, senior forecaster, said that the aurora's showing up this far south is extremely unusual.
"To see the aurora's this far south for what I understand, this far south is common once every eight to 10 years," he said.
Goudsward added that was was rare about this particular event is that there was not any cloud cover or haze, factors that normally increase the chances of an aurora.
The impact compressed the Earth's magnetic field, and among other things, created a large geomagnetic storm, triggering the auroras. The injection hit the Earth at 1 p.m. CDT and caused the lights in the night sky, which could be seen in a majority of states, including many in the south.
The aurora is more rare in the fact that it was all-red, which, according to an article on spaceweather.com, can occur during intense geomagnetic storms.
The auroras were somewhat subdued before exploding in the night sky.
As far as seeing a repeat performance tonight, Goudsward said the best chance was last night, though folks could get a shorter look at another aurora, due to changes in the moisture levels and cloud cover.