Hi, Vasiliy.
A few days ago, a huge coronal hole opened up in the Sun's upper atmosphere. This isn't dangerous or scary, but it means an increased chance of geomagnetic storms. In other words: auroras, even in places that don't normally get to see them.
If you live in Iceland or Alaska, you get to see auroras all the time, but even if you live in Southern Canada, the Northern US, and many regions in Europe and Asia, you can get a chance to see the Northern Lights, if you keep your eyes on the space weather forecast.
For the southern hemisphere, New Zealand, Tasmania, South Africa, Chile and Argentina have a shot at seeing them from time to time.
So how do you know when to look?
You can see the Earth's current aurora activity at NOAA's 30-minute aurora forecast. If you happen to live in one of the green areas, there could be auroras at your location right now.
But for your best chance, I recommend that you install an aurora notification app on your phone. There are a bunch that will send you a notification when the activity is high enough in your area that auroras could be possible.
I don't have a specific aurora app to recommend, but if you search the iPhone app store or Google Play, you should find one. The key is that it needs to send you a notification when the activity is high enough for visibility in your area. This might only happen once or twice a year if you live far from the poles.
When you get the notification, head to a place that's as dark as possible to the North (or the South in the southern hemisphere). Take a camera and take some long exposure pictures and you might be able to detect the faint green glow of auroras.
But they're dynamic and can change at a moment's notice. What starts as a glow on the horizon can explode into a dynamic show of light that you'll remember for the rest of your life.
But you won't see it if you don't get outside and be ready.
Thanks!
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today
P.S. It's Perseid meteor shower time. They won't be great because of the full Moon this year, but it's still worth the adventure.
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