ALERT!!!!! AURORA POSSIBLE TONIGHT - DECEMBER 8-9

 Hey, Space Placers!

iPhone pic of November 2025 Aurora

Greg Redfern

In addition to the wonderful sky sights of December  https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2025/12/eyes-to-the-skies-for-december-2025-full-cold-supermoon-and-geminids-meteor-shower-steal-the-show/   we may, and I emphasize may, have the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora, tonight just after midnight towards dawn.

Yesterday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)  https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/  issued a forecast https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/strong-g3-geomagnetic-storm-watch-valid-09-dec-2025  for a G3 (Strong) Geomagnetic Storm http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation to occur on December 9.

This forecasted event will not be like we experienced last month when we had Aurora visible for several nights https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2025/11/northern-lights-sightings-possible-next-few-nights-in-dc-region/ .

This forecasted G3 Geomagnetic Storm was caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME) https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-mass-ejections  which in turn was caused by a strong solar flare https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/solar-flares-radio-blackouts. Here is the December 6 CME image taken by the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/home.html  posted on line by spaceweatherlive.com   https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/images/news/2025/597-cme.gif .

These Geomagnetic Storms and associated Aurora events forecasted are not predicted to reach the historic levels of May 10th of 2024 https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2024/05/a-severe-geomagnetic-storm-may-be-coming-what-does-that-mean/  . But, we should be watching northern skies just in case the Aurora appear.

SWPC’s two-day Aurora forecast https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental  and our forecasted clearing skies https://wtop.com/weather/  , means we MAY detect Aurora to the North. As I write this at noon, the NOAA forecast has our best time to look for Aurora being 1 to 6 a.m. EST, December 9 - convert to your time zone. 

If the SWPC forecast holds, Aurora conditions may be strong enough to detect Aurora visually and with our cameras. It will be worth taking a look to the North tonight during the forecasted timeframe from a dark sky site with a clear horizon. You might be able to visually detect some color in the sky if bright Aurora are present but they will likely be low on the Northern horizon. Even if it is partly cloudy, Aurora, if present, can be detected in the gaps.

Your camera and/or smartphone significantly improves your chances of detecting and imaging the Aurora due to their digital sensors. Even if you do not see Aurora, image the Northern horizon to possibly get an image of them.

Use a camera or smartphone that can take exposures of several seconds - including using “Night Sky” or “Low Light” settings if your camera has them - of the Northern horizon. Steady the camera or use a tripod for best image results. The camera likely capture Aurora that your eyes did not  https://www.space.com/how-to-photograph-the-aurora .

Our best bet is to monitor Clear Sky Chart (input your location) https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/  for sky conditions and the NOAA https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental     and space related social media sites    https://twitter.com/TamithaSkov,   EarthSky.org , space.com for Aurora viewing updates. There are Aurora apps available as well to help you. 

At NOAA’s Aurora forecast webpage you will see times listed as UT so you need to convert them to your time zone using this link https://www.ready.noaa.gov/READYtime.php 

With our terrestrial weather being such a factor in our daily lives here in the DMV, and frankly, the rest of the world, we are also directly affected by Space Weather https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/about-space-weather which can produce a variety of events, including Geomagnetic Storms and the Aurora. 

Besides NOAA SWPC, I check Spaceweather.com https://spaceweather.com/ every day just as I do my local weather as it has a daily snapshot of what the Space Weather in the solar system is going to be like and a current image of the Sun.

Space Weather, like our terrestrial weather, is caused by Earth’s interaction with our star, the Sun. We know it will be there every new day and count on it for life-giving warmth and energy. We also have become accustomed to it being well behaved. What many people may not know is that our Sun undergoes an 11 year Solar Cycle https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-cycles/en/ that can affect Space Weather throughout our Solar System.

Our Sun https://www.nasa.gov/sun  is a 4.5 billion year old star that we have been monitoring since Galileo. Today, humans have a fleet of spacecraft that monitor the Sun and Space Weather 24x7x365.

The Sun had an episode of disturbed behavior in 1859 that if it were to occur today could adversely affect us if we were not prepared.

In 1859 on September 1st the Sun experienced a solar storm episode that was observed by solar astronomer Richard Carrington that ended up bearing his name -"the Carrington Event” https://scijinks.gov/what-was-the-carrington-event/ . This was a watershed event in solar astronomy and also the Sun's affect on the Earth as nothing like it has not been seen since - thankfully as you will see.

If a Carrington-level solar event were to happen today the affect on modern society's infrastructure could be potentially catastrophic, especially the electrical grid which powers everything else. If you think this is unlikely or too sci-fi to be true, I suggest you read the report by the National Academies of Science published in 2008.

Maybe now you will want to include a check on Space Weather too as part of your daily weather routine.

Good luck, Aurora chasers…….

Sky Guy in VA