Why are we suddenly having all these extreme Aurora Borealis events?

Question

I live in Upstate NY, I can recall maybe once or twice in my entire lifetime hearing about being able to see the aurora and now it seems to be happening at least every few months, lately..

This seems like a significant increase over a very short period of time.. why is this happening?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

Thanks to a world awash in mobile phones with high-quality cameras, and ways to share these photos instantly on social media, we’re more likely to see and hear about these auroral displays than ever before. We’re also at the peak of solar maximum – when the sun is moist active and likely to produce aurora.

In other words, they’ve always happened (and peak around every 11 years or so) but we just haven been able to image/share them as readily as the past leading to increased coverage.