How to Forecast Northern Lights! Part I: Aurora Basics

Want to See Northern or Southern Lights from your own backyard? I will equip you with the tools and knowledge you need to make that happen. You just need to know when and where to look!
(Part 2 will be delivered ~September or October 2019)
In Part 1 of this Aurora Forecasting series, I'm going to take you through the basics of Aurora Lore, Terminology, Solar Cycles, the Magnetosphere, Geomagnetic Latitude, and the Kp Index.
This information will help prime you for Part 2, where I will deep dive into forecasting the Kp index with the various tools available from NASA and the small armada of satellites that help us predict spaceweather and Aurora Borealis, and Aurora Australis.
You don't have to live in Alaska to see Northern Lights, you just need to know what to look for.
For 20 years I've photographed aurora from literally my own backyard or just driving outside of town, or while on vacation.
In most cases, you just need to be where you can increase your chances, and occasionally pay attention to space weather.
A lot of gear was used over the years, all the way from a Canon AE-1 film camera (2000+), to a Kodak DC290 (2001), Canon Rebel (300D) (2004-2009), Canon T1i and T3i (2010+)
#northernlights #astrophotography #MichiganAurora

[@anniek6815]

I wish I searched this, Nov 3rd and 4th 2021 was crazy. Everyone got lucky in fairbanks, anchorage alaska had 90 percent cloud coverage. ☁️ never too late to learn this, thank you for this.

[@carolelabrecque2799]

Very interesting. Love your voice ❤️❤️ Thank you for these great videos

[@glenheinz1275]

Thanks for making this Gavan!..

[@scienceoutthere]

Glen Heinz I ain’t stopping any time soon!

[@Icybubba]

"You can see the northern lights from where you live" *lives in Florida* It's okay though, high chance I'm moving to Alaska in the not too distant future

[@scienceoutthere]

Yeah Florida is going to be pretty tough! Lol. It has happened though. I’m visiting Alaska next month for quite an extended stay. Love it there.

[@Icybubba]

@@scienceoutthere Yeah Alaska has always been a dream for me, I used to live in Pennsylvania and even back then I dreamt about living in Alaska. It's just now I have actually a couple of paths forward that I can take to get there. Are you going to film any videos up there? I freaking love Alaska videos, I have What's Inside's entire catalog of Alaska videos in a playlist haha

[@cinemabunny]

My son wants to see the northern lights and this is exactly what I was looking for. Copper Harbor is 47.5N. We would be driving 5 hours north to Val D'or at 48N or 8 hours north to Lac Matagami at 49.8N. It looks like we are also getting into a Solar Maximum so hopefully we get more chances. I will watch to increase our chances of planning some successful runs north.

[@pablom3558]

Good luck to you and your son! Next week I’ll be flying to Tromsø, Norway, hoping to see the lights for the 4th year in a row. My girlfriend is coming with me and I’m extra nervous, I’d hate if she doesnt get as lucky as I did!

[@wolkcumulus2547]

If I want to look at the aurora in my own backyard I need KP9 lmao. When that happened in 2003, it was cloudy in my country (The Netherlands) sadly. But I will go to Iceland in a few weeks :D

[@nebula6362]

I always use DSCOVR satellite real time data to seem them.

[@tishantrawat4835]

Very knowledgeable video for Aurora Enthusiast like me🌌😃

[@scienceoutthere]

Tishant Rawat 12A /62 I have 4 of these videos now so let me know how I’m doing on any of them!

[@langstonmarcos6668]

You prolly dont give a shit but does anybody know of a trick to get back into an Instagram account..? I somehow lost the password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me.

[@justinmajor1346]

@Langston Marcos Instablaster ;)

[@langstonmarcos6668]

@Justin Major thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. I see it takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.

[@langstonmarcos6668]

@Justin Major It worked and I finally got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D Thank you so much you really help me out !

[@mellowhippo]

One question. WHERE did you get that sweet Bob Ross T?

[@scienceoutthere]

Glad you asked! I was just at Kohl's the other day and they still have it on display! I got mine last fall so not sure how long they might last.

[@timliscum2861]

Thanks Ill be watching your series,, Im down here in Phoenix and got a good Timelapse of the April 23, 2023 Aurora from Arizona.. the Timelapse is on my page..

[@mrnuthatch7004]

Where can I find part 2?

[@MrWho-vb6hg]

Hi, my kid really wants to see it. I plan to take them to Maine like Moosehead. Is this a good idea? I live in NYC. could you provide me with any website that able to forecast Aurora? Thanks in advance.

[@scienceoutthere]

Spaceweather.com and spaceweatherlive.com would be a good start. I dive into data sources in part 3! And Maine is a great place to try but keep in mind you’ll probably only see them about once a week in average during the current solar minimum. The longer you stick around and pay attention to forecasts the better your chances. Hang out on the south end of the lakes up there but away from towns for your best shot at seeing them!

[@Kalas001]

Im making it a mission to see the lights. Would Idaho be optimal? Late November.

[@scienceoutthere]

Extreme Northern Idaho can see the lights when they are pretty active. (Kp4-5, or hemispheric power Over 60~

[@Kalas001]

@@scienceoutthere you're awesome man. Thank you very much.

[@djaccount5458]

On my channel i put link to live autora forecast.