Aurora Borealis in Southern Illinois?

Yep, first we had the Eclipse last month, and now this?

 

Check to see if you can observe it on this website.

I have experienced the northern light twice before.  The first was in New Hampshire on 15 September 1974 as I was backpacking south on the AT.  The second was in Iceland on 6 October 2015 after this conference.

Pinkham Notch

 Worked for room and board at Pinkham Notch between 13 Sept and 17 September in 1974.

(Carter Notch)

Arrive 7:15pm after long day. The following days I rock climbed, went to Gorham and south to see Limmer's Shoe Factory (should have ordered a pair, but oh well), EMS and saw 3 Musketeers at movie theater.

One spectacular thing is that I saw the northern lights.  Here I a shot I got in Iceland forty years later.

To the naked eye, the lights look silver, but when photographed I got the green.

Iceland Volcano and Northern Lights

 What a spectacular show.  Google the title and see the color.  I have seen both, but at different times.  For the latter, see these shots from my last visit to Iceland (BC: Before Covid).

All shot at the HOTEL RANGÁ.

Weather and northern lights

Two things are necessary to see the Northern Lights:

Clear weather and atmospheric activity.

The University of Alaska offers this prediction information.  And for the picture in Iceland, I used the website for Aurora Forecasts.  On that evening, the forecast looked like this:

So the green means the probability of Aurora activity, and the skies were clear.

On the evening this was shot, the skies were clear enough to take this 30 second exposure.  It appeard silver to us on the ground but the photo shows green!

So what will be the chance tonight?  Check out NOAA.

To see the Northern Lights

Iceland is the place to go.

On my first visit, it was June and we enjoyed 20 hours of daylight and plenty of time to explore the countryside.  And a second visit was in October.  A bit more chilly, 12 hours of daylight, but we did get to see the lights while in southern Iceland, southeast of Hella.