![]() ![]() Despite all the negative press the trough gets, I enjoyed the low phase and attained my goal of one “hero shot” per year ( 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). The more sunspots, the more solar flare energy is being released into space (which means more aurora activity!).įor 400 years, from the time of Galileo until now, we have been keeping track of the number of these sunspots and, as the trends show in these two graphs, this cycle is predictable.Ī: We are just starting to come out of a 4-year trough of Solar Cycle 24. This is known as the solar cycle and is measured by the number of sunspots visible on the sun. Every eleven years or so it beats, and it beats hard. If that same sunspot (or coronal hole) is still active it will have rotated around with the sun and will be, once again, in geoeffective position (pointing toward earth).and hosing us with an enhanced flow of aurora-generating solar wind. Therefore, sunspots, like those seen on this solar image to the left, are like a giant revolving firehose emitting energy into space for sometimes months at a time.Īfter an active aurora night, mark that date on a calendar and in 27-28 days pay close attention to the sky. ![]() On average, the sun revolves on its axis once every 27-28 days as seen from earth. This is a very helpful tool for predicting auroras. Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.Northern Lights Forecast 27-Day Aurora Forecast Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.įor more news in your neighborhood, go to our In Your Neighborhood page on our website. However, there are indications they will be quite visible. ![]() If you go into your “pro” settings, you should be able to adjust your shutter speed. Most phones actually have this feature on the camera app that comes with it, if you don’t have a fancy camera. Long exposure cameras work the best if not able to be seen by the naked eye. Of course, they will be best visible away from city lights. What do you do? Well, head outside as soon as darkness falls and look north. This one is expected to be a G3 level Wednesday night. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a branch called the Space Weather Prediction Center and it ranks the level of the geo storm based on how powerful the CME heading our way is. When a CME hits the Earth's atmosphere it triggers what is called a geomagnetic storm. How does it happen? A coronal mass ejection, or CME, shot out from the sun toward Earth. Even then it’ll be just coming up and not higher in the sky until about 3am. The better news is that the moon won’t be rising above the horizon until close to 1am. That means it will only be about 60% illuminated. The moon will be in a waning gibbous phase. Right now, the storm is expected to bring Kp rating of 7, which would give us hope of seeing them in our skies! We need a Kp rating of at least 6-7 in order to be able to see them. This means we need a rather strong geomagnetic storm in order to see the Northern Lights this far south. While we are pretty far north on a map of the United States, mid-Michigan is actually in the southern half of the northern hemisphere. Zero is the lower and nine is the highest. So how do we see them this far south? Well, these storms are measured on planetary index, or Kp scale, from zero to nine. This will interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, which could produce a dazzling display of the Aurora Borealis. The Northern Lights could make an appearance in mid-Michigan Wednesday night! Yet another powerful geomagnetic storm shot out from the sun a couple of days ago and is now reaching the Earth.
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