Your Best Shot To See Northern Lights From Billings This Thursday

If you're a fan of the Northern Lights, you're gonna love this Thursday!

Wow!

According to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute, the Northern Lights should be visible from Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming this Thursday, July 13th.

When Can I See It?

According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, your best time to view the aurora will be between 10 PM and 2 AM.

And remember, your best chance to see the aurora is to get away from the lights of the city. The higher the elevation, the better to view. And, even though "Northern" is in the name, the aurora can appear in the sky in any direction.

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What causes the Northern Lights?

According to Nasa.gov, the closer you are to the poles of the globe, you are more likely to see an aurora. For the northern pole, it's called aurora borealis or northern lights. For the southern pole, it's called an aurora australis or the southern lights.

Auroras may be best seen at night, however, they are caused by the big glowing star in the sky... our sun. During a solar storm, the sun experiences an event called a coronal mass ejection... which is essentially the sun burping out massive bubbles of electrified gas that travel through space at high speed.

When the particles from that ejection arrive at Earth, they travel down magnetic field lines at each pole into our atmosphere, and interact with gases in our atmosphere resulting in the colorful display of lights in the sky!

What are your thoughts?

Will you be watching for the aurora? Or, do you go to bed before 10 PM? Let us know on App Chat or on Facebook.