Off The Record
You Dont Want To Miss The Northern Lights Solar Event This Week
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a spectacular display of the Northern Lights may light up the night sky this week.
Ribbons of pink, green, and even purple light flow over the heavens as a result of this phenomenon.
The lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, have captivated people for thousands of years and are caused by charged particles from the sun striking the Earth’s atmosphere.
And residents of a few US states may be fortunate enough to see them this week.
Another solar wind stream, originating from ‘a canyon-like hole’ in the sun’s atmosphere, is its route to our planet, according to SpaceWeather.com.
A ‘G1 (small) geomagnetic storm’ might be seen starting today (Thursday, February 13) and continuing into the evening on Valentine’s Day, with ‘strong activity’ anticipated, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Where to see the Northern Lights
The light spectacle might be seen in parts of Canada and the northern United States.
Given its northern location, Alaska is one state that might not be surprised to see a show.
Additionally, tonight and tomorrow, if the weather permits, the Northern Lights may be seen as far south as northern Michigan and Maine.
How best to see the Northern Lights
The NOAA advises ‘getting away from city lights’ and heading out at night to enjoy the best views of the Aurora Borealis. However, the clarity of the night sky also affects visibility.
“The best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight—between 10pm and 2am local time,” said the organization.
“These hours of active aurora expand towards evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases.”
“There may be aurora in the evening and morning but it is usually not as active and therefore, not as visually appealing.”
Capturing the solar storm
Speaking of “visually appealing,” you don’t need a high-end DSLR camera to take pictures of the lights, thankfully.
Alternatively, you can set up your iPhone to take full advantage of the light display.
To accomplish this, make sure you choose Night Mode, which ought to activate on its own if you’re shooting in low light.
If not, you can go to it using your camera app’s options menu.
Next, set the exposure duration to the longest possible duration. This will enable your iPhone to record more Northern Lights movement and illumination.
It’s important to note that a tripod would be really helpful in this situation, even if you also need an iPhone 11 or later model to accomplish this.
The quality of your images may suffer if you have unsteady hands and your exposure settings are at their highest.
Make sure you’re as still as you can if you want your Instagram feed to be filled with those flawlessly lit photos you’ve seen.
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