Northern Lights Down South? Tonight Could Be ‘Best Time in Years’ to See Aurora Borealis in Britain

Metro UK ^ | Thursday 9 Jan 2014

[nickcarraway]

People living in some southern parts of England could have the best chance ‘in years’ to see the Northern Lights tonight.

Intense solar activity two days ago means that light displays from the aurora borealis could be much brighter and visible far further south than usual, according to scientists.

A vast solar storm heading this way could see KP Index readings – the way in which Northern Light visibility is measured – grow from one (visible in northern Scandinavia) to seven (visible in southern Wales and parts of southern England), according to forecasts from the Space Weather Prediction Centre in Boulder, Colorado.

Researchers believe the KP Index reading could reach seven by midnight, with some specialists suggesting the optimum viewing time could be between midnight and 3am.

However, AuroraWatch UK – a research programme based at Lancaster University – said although conditions for sightings were ‘promising’, people should not get overly-confident.

Steve Maple, a member of its research team, told the Telegraph: ‘We do not want to get too many people’s hopes up only to see them dashed, but are observing closely and the conditions do look promising.

‘We expect the solar storm to have arrived by the evening – and then just hope that the orientation of the magnetic field will be in the right direction.’

For the best chance of seeing the display, people are advised to stay away from artificial light, go to higher ground and find spots with good views of the northern horizon.

[nickcarraway]

Did anybody see Rebecca?

[real saxophonist]

I’ve read it might be visible in northern Colorado. I haven’t gone outside and looked.

[rsobin]

I saw the lights quite vividly in North Carolina at the Outer Banks looking north over the sound. This was in the early 2000’s.

[familyop]

Solar Flares: What Does It Take to Be X-Class?
Karen C. Fox
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
"Although X is the last letter, there are flares more than 10 times the power of an X1, so X-class flares can go higher than 9. The most powerful flare measured with modern methods was in 2003, during the last solar maximum, and it was so powerful that it overloaded the sensors measuring it. The sensors cut out at X28."

[Islander7]

I recall as a kid in the late 50’s, the Northern Lights were once visible in south Mississippi.

[TigersEye]

I caught that news in a Tweet from a Ft. Collins newspaper last night. Said there was a good chance from 2 to 4 AM this morning. I was up, no borealis. Also said that midnight tonight might be the best chance. Hope I remember to look.

[momtothree]

Northern lights ping!

[hoagy62]

And wouldn’t you know it....it’s cloudy & rainy in Seattle. Drat!

[Zeppo]

The latest satellite reading does not look all that promising - it was a lot more intense early this evening (but still not visible in CT).

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html

[reed13k]

If it wasn’t so freakin overcast ....

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks momtothree, extra to APoD.