Auroras seen in Riverton, Utah, on March 24, 2023.NWS Riverton
A geomagnetic storm is due to hit Earth late Thursday evening, Eastern Time.
It should be relatively mild but could spark beautiful auroras visible from around the world.
Here’s how to give yourself the best chance of spotting them.
A solar storm is heading towards Earth, and it could spark beautiful auroras that may be visible from around the world.
The storm, which should hit our planet late Thursday evening, Eastern Time, and early Friday morning for Europe, is expected to trigger auroras in the northern latitudes.
It is “worth stepping outside around midnight local time during the night from Thursday into Friday if you live at northern latitudes and if the sky is clear,” Daniel Verscharen, an associate professor of space and climate physics at University College London, told Insider.
Here’s how to get the best change of seeing the Northern Lights this evening.
Check the forecast
The aurora forecast of July 6. This forecast can change quite quickly.NOAA space weather prediction center
Head to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s space weather website for the latest forecast to see if auroras are likely to be visible where you are.
The storm is currently predicted to be relatively mild — a G1 strength on a scale that goes up to G5. That would mean the auroras would be visible at the latitude of northern Michigan and Maine.
But geomagnetic storms are notoriously hard to forecast. There is a chance the storm could hit as a stronger G2 or G3 storm, in which case the aurora could be visible as far south as New York and Idaho or Illinois and Oregon, respectively.
A recent example is a G4 storm that hit Earth in March. It had originally been expected to be a G3 storm, but a later eruption of the sun made it more powerful, causing auroras to be seen as far as Phoenix, Arizona.
Space weather can interfere with infrastructure on Earth, but G1 to G2 storms are not expected to cause major disruptions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A G3 storm could cause some disruption to satellite and radio signals around the world, but the effect of these should be minimal.
Go to a quiet place in the dead of night
Aurora australis from the Tasman Bridge in Mount Cook National Park.Igor Hoogerwerf
For the best shot at seeing auroras, you want the backdrop to be as dark as possible.
“The big problem at this time of the year is that the night is very short, especially at high latitudes. This means that there is only a very short window of opportunity when it’s really dark enough to see the aurora,” said Verscharen.
Plan to head away from city lights in the dead of night. Prepare for cold weather with blankets and hot beverages.
Before heading out, check the skies are clear as you will need maximum visibility to see the pink and green streaks in the sky. We recently had a full Buck moon in the northern hemisphere, which is when the full moon appears bigger than usual, so look away from our satellite to avoid its glare.
You may have used your phone or looked at screens to get you where you need to go, so be patient. Put your phone away, and let your eyes adjust to the darkness.
If you have a nice camera, bring it along
A photographer takes pictures of the Aurora Australis on the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand.SANKA VIDANAGAMA/AFP via Getty Images
You can try to snap pictures of the auroras with a camera, but make sure not to transfer it too quickly from a hot to a cold environment to avoid condensation, according to the Royal Photographic Society.
Preset your camera before leaving a warmer space so your fingers don’t get too cold. A higher aperture may be better, but you may have to adjust your settings if the aurora is moving quickly.
You can expect more dazzling displays as the year goes on
A photo montage shows the sun four years ago compared to now.NOAA/Insider
You can expect even more spectacular displays towards the end of 2023. That’s because the sun is currently revving up for a peak of activity that happens every 11 years or so.
Auroras happen when charged particles from the sun crash into the Earth’s magnetic field, exciting molecules in our atmosphere, and causing beautiful green and pink streaks in the sky.
These excited molecules are usually too dim to be seen with the naked eye, but become much more obvious during solar storms because a huge amount of the sun’s charged particles crash into the Earth at once.
As the sun becomes more active, it is more likely to send solar storms our way. It’s also likely to have more sunspots and big dark splotches called coronal ‘holes’ on its surface, both of which can make these storms worse.
This is good news for aurora enthusiasts. The bad news, however, is that geomagnetic storms and space weather can disrupt crucial infrastructure like radio and satellite networks crucial for a whole host of industries, including aviation.
Flights are more likely to be rerouted or grounded in bad space weather, for instance, experts previously told Insider.
The solar maximum also increases the risk of a once-in-a-century geomagnetic storm so strong it could knock out power grids. The last recorded instance of this was in the 19th century when auroras were visible even in the tropics. The storm also knocked out all the telegraph lines in the world.
Scientists are keeping a close eye on the sun as it’s already getting more active than it has been in two decades.
Since then, “our society has advanced a lot. In the meantime, our dependence on satellite infrastructure has increased, and our vulnerability to space weather has therefore increased,” said Verscharen.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
