The northern lights are only visible when it's dark, so the start of the watch on December 10 isn't much use to the casual aurora hunter. MORE: The Curiosity Mars Rover Snapped a Gorgeous Selfie on the Red Planet A site like Aurorasaurus, the SWPC's 30-minute forecast, or scientists on Twitter like the above-embedded Space Weather Watch are good places to keep an eye on for updates that are closer to real-time. Though, these can change because they're forecasts. Those watches rise to a G3 watch early in the night, but trail off with the watches ending at 2 am ET at the time of publication. At the time of publication, the SWPC's 3-Day Forecast projects a G1 watch starting early on December 10 with various levels of that lasting until the early morning hours of December 11. Nothing can guarantee the lights will show up on any given night, but these forecasts mean the stars are aligning in your favor, if you will. Many variables have to align for the aurora to make an appearance. MORE: Stunning Meteor Showers & a Great Conjunction Are Among December's Stargazing Highlights It touches the northern parts of Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine. That only includes the northernmost parts of the country. Even the northern reaches of that map are never guaranteed.ĭuring the G1 watches (the timing is outlined below), you're looking at the southern reach being closer to the green line on the map from September. The further south you go on the map, even inside the marked area, the less likely it is that you're going to see the aurora. Those are all possibilities if we're lucky. The map shared by Space Weather Watch also includes parts of Connecticut, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. Though, the northern lights aren't exactly a rare occurrence in Alaska and northern Canada. That includes northern Idaho, a sliver of Illinois and Indiana, northern Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, northern Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, in addition to all of Alaska and Canada. You're looking at an area around the yellow line on the September map. The map above or one from the SWPC in September, however, can provide a little context for how far south you might be able to see the northern lights during a G3 geomagnetic storm. The SWPC has not released a map showing the potential southern reach of the aurora as it sometimes does. MORE: Jupiter & Saturn Are Coming Together for an Alignment Not Seen Since the Middle Ages "While SWPC forecasters are fairly confident in CME arrival at Earth, timing and geomagnetic storm intensity are less certain," the center wrote in its alert. Those predictions, however, are forecasts and not guarantees. When an especially strong burst of solar energy from a CME arrives, that can make the aurora borealis visible in areas where it doesn't appear with much frequency. That solar energy can result in the beautiful auroral displays visible at both of the Earth's poles. The watches issued by the SWPC are a measure of the solar activity hitting Earth's atmosphere. Similar watches for Wednesday night that came from the same coronal mass ejection (CME), highlighted in a previous version of this post, didn't wind up producing the powerful display that was forecast. It's important to note that these are forecasts, though. Though, the further south you are the more unlikely it is that you're going to see anything. The brief period of a G3 storm watch (a strong watch level) could mean that the northern lights will be seen relatively far south in the continental United States. The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued geomagnetic storm watches for the night of Thursday, December 10. December will now also have the potential to host a stunning northern lights display. This month will feature the great conjunction (some are calling it the "Christmas star") and the most active meteor shower of the year. It may be getting colder, but the night sky is giving you a wagonload of reasons to go outside in the cold.
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