Aurora Borealis (October 7, 2024)

The Aurora Borealis will provide quite a spectacle for sky watchers across parts of Montana on Monday, October 7, 2024.

Margaret Crawford (Heart Butte)

To get the best view, make sure you are as far away from the city lights as possible.

Joslynn Michelle Nahrwold (near Malmstrom AFB)

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Two sources for finding out when the Aurora Borealis might be visible in our region in the future are the Space Weather Prediction Center and Soft Serve News.

Aurora Borealis – Spectator Photos (May 2024)

(FEBRUARY 2023) The Aurora Borealis is a fascinating display of dancing lights in the sky. What causes this fascinating natural phenomenon?

It starts with the sun. The Earth is surrounded by magnetic fields. During solar storms, large masses of charged particles, or protons and electrons, are pushed toward Earth by the solar wind at speeds of 250 to 500 miles per second.

Explainer: Aurora Borealis

In general, the particles are directed towards the area of ​​greatest magnetic activity, the poles. Upon reaching the North or South Pole, these particles interact with atmospheric gases, primarily oxygen and nitrogen. The collisions between the two produce heat, which is released in the form of light.

The visible color depends on the height of the collision. Oxygen at higher altitude produced a red hue, while green hues indicate oxygen molecules at lower altitude. Pink and blue hues are associated with nitrogen molecules, the most abundant gas in the atmosphere.

For the Northern Lights to be visible in mid-latitudes like Montana, the solar storm must be particularly intense. Brightness is directly related to the strength of the solar storm. The planetary K index (Kp) is the most accurate scale for geomagnetic activity. The Kp index ranges from 1 (dark, visible only near the poles) to 9 (very bright, visible overhead in northern US states). A Kp of 5 is generally considered the threshold for a solar storm and that is when the Northern Lights are usually visible near the Canadian border.

Due to the lack of daylight, the peak viewing time for the Aurora Borealis is the winter months, but technically it can be viewed year-round. A full moon or city lights can affect the brightness of the northern lights.