The northern lights lit up the skies across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky Tuesday night. That came as a surprise to many skywatchers, including Wes Ryle at the Cincinnati Observatory.
鈥淭hey knew that there was some activity that was on the horizon, but I don鈥檛 think anyone was expecting it to be at the level that it actually ended up being,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here were predictions (about) being able to see it at more northerly locations, but the fact that it showed up right here in the Cincinnati area鈥� that was what was really surprising for this particular display.鈥�
There were reports the aurora borealis was seen as far south as Florida, Texas, and Mexico.
Ryle says chances are good for another northern light show again Wednesday night, though there's no guarantee.
鈥淲e get calls, a lot, about 'will we be able to see the aurora tonight?鈥� and it is really, really hard to say definitively whether it鈥檚 going to happen or not,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also one of those situations where it鈥檚 like the boy who cried wolf: there鈥檚 lots of times where we say 鈥榦h, there鈥檚 a good chance of seeing it tonight,鈥� and nothing happens.鈥�
The sun goes through an 11-year cycle for activity, and the peak just passed. Ryle says the sun has been ejecting a lot of material lately.
鈥淭hese particles that are coming from the sun, they鈥檙e moving at really, really high speeds, and as they kind of plow down through the atmosphere, they excite the atoms and molecules that are in our atmosphere,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he greens typically correspond to oxygen in the lower atmosphere getting excited. The reds tend to be oxygen higher up in the atmosphere getting excited.鈥�
Ryle says the best time to see activity is from when the sun is completely down, which could be as early at 7 p.m., until around midnight. According to NOAA, it will be easiest to see between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
You may need to use your smartphone's camera to see the display.
As 91制片厂 reports, "smartphone cameras are better at capturing the full array of an aurora than our naked eye, so be sure to go out with your phone to view a fuller spectrum of colors. If our phone camera has a night mode option, it's best to switch it on when photographing the northern lights. You can also switch your phone camera to manual mode and adjust the exposure settings to get the perfect picture."
The forecast for Wednesday night calls for partly cloudy skies, which could make the lights less visible. The best place to see it is away from city lights.
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