[phas-undergrad] Aurora watch tonight!

[Kurtis Williams]

For those who may not have been aware,  a series of solar coronal mass ejections are causing strong geomagnetic storms.  This means there is a chance you can see the aurora tonight!

The attached picture was taken by Dr. Wood from his house in Commerce.

The best place to look would be somewhere with a dark northern horizon, such as from the north side of Commerce or Greenville, as far from lights as you can get.

The best time?  That's tricky.  This far south, the aurora are fickle, and can come and go within a few minutes.  However, the last of the solar storms will likely hit around 0-3 UT (6-9 pm CST).  So soon after dark may  the best time time.  One place to watch is the Space Weather Prediction Center Aurora Dashboard: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental which shows predictions of where the aurora might be seen in the next 30 minutes - it you see red colors crossing the US/Canada border, you might have a shot at seeing something.

Depending on the strength of the storm, your eye might see a faint reddish glow on the northern horizon.  Cameras are much more sensitive to the red light than your eye, so the aurora might be visible in cameras even if your eye sees nothing special.  The attached picture was taken by Dr. Wood last night when many people were able to see the aurora with their eyes!

Tonight is probably the last night with a good chance to see the aurora from northeast Texas for a long time, so it's worth a gander!

Cheers,
Kurtis

Dr. Kurtis A. Williams (he/him/his)

Professor and Department Head

Department of Physics and Astronomy<https://www.tamuc.edu/physics>


P: 903.886.5488


East Texas A&M University<https://www.tamuc.edu/>
(formerly Texas A&M University-Commmerce)



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