Have you ever woken up, looked at your phone or computer, and seen pictures of the northern lights from the previous night that you missed because you were sleeping? Well, you might not have missed them.
Let me explain. Photographers sometimes take what are known as timed exposures of the northern lights. I recently saw a nice shot that was a 25-second exposure. Timed exposures essentially let more light into the photograph than the human eye can see in real time. I have seen cases where “real life” was a faint green glow on the horizon, while photographers who took some (beautiful) timed-exposure shots got green curtains.
What this means is that, even had you been out, you may well not have seen what the spectacular photos show, because there’s a good chance they were timed exposures. Those are of course wonderful, but I often get asked if a northern lights shot I post was timed, or “as the eye saw it,” so I always like to ask the photographer.
Once in a while though, you can see a remarkable display with the naked eye. I’ve seen that twice in my life, once down in Virginia during the 1989 solar event that took down the Quebec power grid (once done with this article, google “Carrington Event” – if that happened today, it would make 1989 look like peanuts), and the second time was up on Brewer Road, near WAGM. Chris Weimer and I went down to the intersection of Brewer and Higgins [roads], and there were green and white pulses that extended from the northern horizon, to straight overhead. It was stunningly beautiful.
So, how do you know if there is a chance for the northern lights? These are the two sites I use: SpaceWeather.com, to get an overview as to what is going on, and then Soft Serve News for real-time information.
What confused people the last time we had a chance to see the northern lights were the words which are used on the Soft Serve News site describing auroral activity, such as “active” or “very active.” The problem was that people focused on those words, and not on the number. Which number? The Kp number. I’m about to tell you how to find it (you can look online to find out what the Kp is, space does not permit me to delve into that in this column).
When the Kp gets into the 4’s, the The Soft Serve News site will say “active” and people think that means that the northern lights are out here in The County. But the Kp needs to be higher. As I like to say, Kp 5, look alive. Kp 7, it could be heaven, as in an outstanding northern lights display.
The Kp map is right on the Soft Serve News site. When you go to the site, you’ll note how the Kp 5 line just brushes the crown of Maine, whereas Kp 7 cuts across far southern Maine.
The main thing you need to know is this: If you are north of the Kp number they give on the site in real time, you should head to a dark place, let your eyes adjust, and see what you can see.
By the way, an oft-overlooked key is giving your eyes lots of time to adjust to the dark. It takes a solid 15 minutes for them to fully adjust. And again, get to a place away from ambient light.
So remember, the Kp number is your key, not the descriptive words to the right of the Kp number.
If you have never visited these two sites, I recommend you become familiar with them, so that you can be in the know when we next get the show.
Ted Shapiro holds the Broadcast Seal of Approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. An Alexandria, Va. native, he has been chief meteorologist at WAGM-TV since 2006. Email him at tshapiro@wagmtv.com.
