Latest news with #TheNorthernLights:TheDefinitiveGuidetoAuroras
Forbes
02-05-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Why Last May's Once-A-Century Northern Lights Could Soon Be Repeated
A sky of reds, pinks, blues, purples and greens. If you were outside on the night of May 10-11, 2024 — even on the equator — and you had a clear sky, you were treated to a display of the Northern Lights like no other. The auroral oval tends to stretch around the night side of Earth at about 60 to 70 degrees north and south latitudes, but on that night, it was seen as far south as Mexico and west Africa and as far north as Australia, Chile and Argentina, according to EarthSky. Could it happen again this May? There are reasons to believe that, yes, it could. The geomagnetic storm triggered on May 10-11 was caused by five coronal mass ejections that left the sun a few days earlier in the wake of some powerful X-class solar flares. These clouds of charged particles traveled to Earth separately but at different speeds, arriving at Earth almost simultaneously. 'The display in May was off the charts,' said Tom Kerss, author of The Northern Lights: The Definitive Guide to Auroras and chief aurora hunter for Hurtigruten, in an interview. Literally — in the wake of the display, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center appealed to scientists to suggest how the geomagnetic storm scale could be reconfigured. Massive geomagnetic storms are rare, but they are a natural effect of the sun. The most famous, the so-called "Carrington Event," occurred in early September 1859, when astronomer Richard C. Carrington observed the most powerful solar flare ever recorded. It sparked auroras down to the tropics. "What happened in May wasn't exactly a Carrington Event, but for the sake of latitude, it was very similar," said Kerrs. "It probably didn't put as much energy into the ionosphere, but it produced visible auroras just next to the equator, which hasn't happened since 1859." May 10-11's displays were certainly the most intense since 2003, according to NASA, and some of the strongest auroras for 500 years. May 2025's display was followed by other impressive displays at southerly latitudes — though not as far south as the equator — on October 10-11 and January 1-2. Speaking generally, there's a simple explanation. 2024 saw the sun at solar maximum, the peak of the 11-year solar cycle. "Solar maximum is a period of heightened solar activity," said Kerss. "This increased activity leads to more frequent and intense geomagnetic storms, which in turn produce stronger and more visible auroras." Although they announced the arrival of solar maximum last October, NASA and NOAA space weather scientists still don't know specifically when it will peak and decline. 'This announcement doesn't mean that this is the peak of solar activity we'll see this solar cycle,' said Elsayed Talaat, director of space weather operations at NOAA. 'While the sun has reached the solar maximum period, the month that solar activity peaks on the sun will not be identified for months or years.' However, there is a chance of an extended period of activity well beyond the peak of the solar cycle. Even when the sun's magnetic activity begins to wane, there's a good chance another landmark display of aurora could result. 'This period of solar decline is marked by a decreasing number of sunspots, but not necessarily by fewer impacts, even after the solar maximum," said Lisa Upton, co-chair of Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel and lead scientist at Southwest Research Institute. In fact, the declining phase is notable for having very strong solar events. Aurora-chasers know all this. "The best shows often occur in the 2 or 3 years after solar max, so we have several more years to look forward to seeing the Lights dance in our skies," said Alan Dyer, an experienced aurora-chaser." Kerss agrees: "The current solar cycle is expected to have a long tail of activity, potentially providing good aurora sightings for several years to come." Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Forbes
23-03-2025
- Forbes
Northern Lights: Quick Pro Tips For Smartphones As Strong Aurora Predicted
The aurora from the Aurora Sky Station, Abisko National park, Sweden, on March 22, 2025, using an ... More iPhone 16 Pro Max. Just a few years ago, it was impossible to take usable imagery of the Northern Lights with a smartphone. However, thanks to advances in low-light performance, that's all changed, with the latest models (and even those a few years old) able to take spectacular photos and impressive videos of colorful aurora. You just have to know what you're doing. 'Smartphones are now amazing aurora cameras,' said Tom Kerss, author of "The Northern Lights: The Definitive Guide to Auroras and chief aurora hunter for Hurtigruten Astronomy Cruises, in an interview. 'I used to believe our phones would never take a good aurora photo,' he said, 'but I can't believe how much detail they're able to pick up now.' They're now so good, in fact, that professional aurora-hunters use a smartphone photo to check that what they are seeing in the sky is, in fact, aurora. That's because aurora tends to look rather mono to the naked eye. On the other hand, a camera takes in more light — simply because its shutter can be left open for a few seconds or more — and therefore detects more color. Here's everything you need to know to take photos and video of the Northern Lights with a smartphone: It used to be something only very expensive high ISO cameras could do, but since iPhone 13 it's been possible to take impressive video of the Northern Lights. However, you need to do this: shoot in HD at 30 frames per second. Most of us shoot at 4k and 60 frames per second, which is fine for daylight but a lot dimmer at night. 'Just don't move the phone too quickly, or it will get very smudgy,' said Kerss, explaining the side effect of the drop in frame rate at HD 30. 'Slower movements will look better.' The aurora from the Aurora Sky Station, Abisko National park, Sweden, on March 22, 2025, using an ... More iPhone 16 Pro Max. The key to the improvements in smartphone cameras is their sensitivity to light at night. 'For photos on an iPhone, turn the flash off, use the highest resolution or quality you can get, and use Night mode,' said Kerss. On the iPhone, Night Mode is the yellow bubble in the top-left corner, which appears at night. 'It will typically read three seconds. If you set the phone to capture in RAW or in the highest resolution or quality possible, then just hold still for three seconds, an iPhone will reliably take very nice pictures of the Northern Lights,' said Kerss. This applies from the iPhone 13 onwards, which, according to Kerss, is as good as any manual camera. Android users have two useful tools: night mode for automatic low-light shots, and Pro mode for full manual control. In Pro mode, you can adjust shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. A wide aperture (such as f/2.8 or lower) lets in more light while boosting ISO to 6400 or higher, which helps reveal faint aurora. If you put an iPhone in a universal holder and mount that on a tripod, it senses its new-found stability. 'If you have a tripod, you can get longer than three-second exposures — you can go up to 30 seconds,' said Kerrs, adding that tripods are useful for very slight, slow-moving, so-called 'forest fire' aurora in the distance. If you can see aurora moving quickly in front of you or above you, as quick an exposure as possible is recommended. If you use manual camera apps — or a manual mirrorless or DSLR camera — use a high ISO (such as ISO 3200 or ISO 6400, or even higher on newer cameras) to allow more light in. Higher ISO lets in more light but at the expense of noise, but the latter can be fixed later using software like DXO PureRAW. While it's tempting to focus on getting the perfect shot, don't forget to enjoy the experience — seeing the Northern Lights dance in the night sky is a rare and wonderful experience. Luckily, getting a souvenir photo or video has never been easier. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Why the northern lights seem more frequent than ever — from solar science to smartphone snapshots
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Why did the world suddenly become obsessed with the northern lights? It seems like not a week goes by without news of solar flares and, very often, a forecast for auroras in their wake. So are the northern lights being seen from farther south than usual? Or are people merely noticing them more? Here's why the northern lights have become more visible and more talked about than ever over the past year. Auroras happen when charged particles from the sun — the solar wind — interact with Earth's magnetic field. An auroral oval sits permanently over the Arctic and Antarctic circles at 66 degrees north and south, respectively. Locations in these regions — including Alaska, northern Canada, northern Scandinavia and northern Russia — frequently see auroras at night, between about 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. from late August and early April every year when there's enough darkness. Related: Where and when to see the northern lights in 2025 "The fundamental processes that create them are always occurring," Tom Kerss, author of "The Northern Lights: The Definitive Guide to Auroras (Collins, 2021) and chief aurora hunter for Hurtigruten Astronomy Cruises, told "The interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind continuously produces auroral activity in the polar regions." Solar maximum is one reason the northern lights are big news right now. The sun has a roughly 11-year solar cycle, during which our star's activity waxes and wanes. This activity includes solar flares, which are explosions on the sun; and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are clouds of charged particles that launch into space, sometimes in Earth's direction. During the lull in that cycle, called solar minimum, the sun's surface is blank and little happens. When solar cycle activity picks up sunspots appear as black areas on the sun's surface. They can be seen through telescopes fitted with solar filters, and even through solar eclipse glasses. (Make sure to view the sun safely with the best solar viewing gear.) These sunspots are cooler areas of the sun's surface, and how many are visible correlates to how active the sun is. Solar maximum is declared when the number of sunspots peaks. Scientists at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted that the current cycle, Solar Cycle 25 (the 25th since 1755, when regular daily records of sunspots began), would reach its maximum in July 2025. The error bars mean the actual peak — which is measured as the number of sunspots in a calendar month — could occur between November 2024 and March 2026. In October 2024, the same solar scientists announced that solar maximum had arrived. However, they also stated that this solar maximum period could continue for the following year. Because they experience auroras frequently, regions under the auroral oval are the best places in the world to see the northern lights throughout the solar cycle. However, the intensity and visibility can still vary. Solar maximum periods will produce more spectacular and widespread displays, which can be visible at lower latitudes. In short, the intensity of the solar wind can increase — principally when a few CMEs arrive at Earth simultaneously to trigger a significant geomagnetic storm — causing the auroral oval to shift closer to the equator. Solar Cycle 25 has outperformed predictions and explains why auroras have been seen farther from the Arctic and Antarctic circles. "With auroras being visible globally in May [2024] and then again in October [2024] and January [2025], it's been a special cycle so far," Kerss said. There are generally more solar flares and CMEs during solar maximum, which, theoretically, occurs every 11 years. In practice, the sun is highly active on each side for a year or two. "What's been fascinating about Solar Cycle 25 is that, so far, it's on track to exceed the expected performance of the previous Solar Cycle 24, and perhaps even Solar Cycle 23, which was a pretty good, strong cycle for auroras," Kerss said. In short, it's the best time to see auroras farther south than where the auroral oval is typically positioned for a couple of decades. Related: What it's like to chase the northern lights along Norway's dramatic coastline There are photos of the northern lights everywhere you look. Given that the last time the northern lights were seen far from the equator was a couple of years after the solar maximum in 2001, there's an obvious reason for this. Social media and smartphone apps didn't exist back then, and mobile phones had poor-quality cameras. Knowing about potential northern lights displays in advance was far less likely than it is today, when alerts and forecasts are posted on social media and sent out via smartphone notifications. And even if auroras did become visible back then, usually only experienced astrophotographers with expensive cameras had any success in photographing these colorful light displays. In recent years, however, smartphones' low-light capabilities have improved dramatically; they have effectively doubled in quality with every new generation of phones. Even short exposures of the auroras are possible using a smartphone, as is real-time video. Now, anyone can take excellent images using a smartphone and share them with the world in seconds. Social media has also played a significant role in increasing awareness and interest in the northern lights, with platforms like Instagram driving trends in travel, including aurora viewing. There is also a new generation of apps, such as the Glendale app, which eschews the often-misunderstood Kp index in favor of real-time solar wind data from satellites and ground stations to predict "substorms" — imminent aurora displays — and send alerts based on a user's location. Although experience in interpreting this real-time solar wind data is a huge help, the dissemination of this information on social media makes people more likely to be in the right place at the right time to witness sudden aurora displays. Related stories: —Solar Cycle 25 is still in max phase, so more aurora-boosting sun storms could be coming —Aurora activity is just getting started. Here's why the best northern lights are yet to come. —The sun in 2025: How the solar cycle will shape our year ahead The ease of sharing aurora experiences on social media can sometimes lead to unrealistic expectations. "What we see with our eyes is not as vibrant as the camera sees," Kerss noted. The vibrant colors captured by cameras are often more intense than the human eye perceives, which can disappoint some viewers. Aurora hunters now use smartphones to check for suspect shapes in the sky and, in fact, auroras. Solar maximum, smartphones and social media have fueled a growing interest in space weather, astronomy and Arctic tourism and have democratized aurora viewing and astrophotography. However, these factors have also brought new challenges in managing expectations and providing accurate information.
