They stare from balconies, huddle atop lookouts, or sip coffee, eyes turned to the sky for a hint of color — any color.
As night falls, Northern Lights chasers in the Northern Hemisphere are out again on Friday. The bright colors, most commonly seen near the Arctic, lit up the sky last week in an unusual sight across low latitudes in Europe and North America.
Those who missed the aurora, or were eager to see another show, set alarms and monitored the Aurora Watch app in hopes of another opportunity. Some in Canada and the United Kingdom say they’re getting rewarded, while others in the northern U.S. are keeping a close eye on forecasts.
But forecasters say predicting when the aurora will occur can be tricky, given that solar activity constantly changes during its cycle.
“Broadly speaking, though, we do know that activity and sunspot numbers should increase during this part of the cycle,” Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said.
The Met Office said aurora borealis are unlikely to appear in the UK until at least this weekend, although there is a “low chance” of one in northern Scotland before sunrise on Sunday.
The Northern Lights may return to Scotland and Northern Ireland on Monday, with the possibility of being visible to the naked eye in northern England and Wales. Monday is expected to be sunny with some showers.
Experienced chasers say seeing the Northern Lights requires planning, patience and a team effort.
“We set up a small aurora group in my little village,” said Steve Emery, 50, who lives in Hesket Newmarket, northwest England. ) village. He said a group of about 20 people had been discussing the weather forecast.
“It’s become a local hobby and it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Mr Emery was sitting in bed at 1am when the alarm went off, suggesting a possible sighting of the Northern Lights. He and others in the chat group drove to the top of a nearby hill.
“They’re very faint, but you can definitely see the green, especially the purple,” he said. “They sparkle too.”
Mr Emery, 50, said the movement of the lights reminded him of the swaying curtains drawn at the end of a theatrical performance. Within five minutes, he said, they were coming and gone.
“It happens so fast, you need to be prepared,” he said, adding that the color is different every time. “You never know what you’re going to see. That’s the addictive nature of it”.
Others, even if they are prepared, are stymied by light pollution, the bright moon or clouds.
Did they see an aurora, or was it just nearby light pollution? (This unique feeling of disappointment was captured in a TikTok video when two friends in Norwich shared that the purple glow they thought was the Northern Lights was actually light coming from the Premier Inn Hotel.)
Solar storms are caused by the interaction of light particles with the Earth’s magnetic field. When geomagnetic activity is higher, auroras are brighter and farther from the poles. The sun usually goes through an 11-year activity cycle. When activity is frequent, it is called solar maximum.
Last week’s display came after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare warning on May 10 that a Category 5 solar storm had reached Earth, an extreme event not recorded since October 2003.
Seasoned chasers and experts have some advice: Stay away from city lights. Go to a vantage point with a clear view, such as the top of a mountain. Looking north. And use your phone to take photos, as it can pick up more wavelengths than the naked eye.
In Norway, Cathe Sletaker was getting ready for bed at her home in Hole, about an hour northwest of Oslo, when she received the alert. She walked to her balcony.
The sky was bright, but she saw a pale glow of purple, lavender, and green.
“I stayed there until 3 o’clock in the morning,” she said. “My cat also came to visit me and I took a beautiful photo of her.”
The lights were not as intense as last week, but Ms. Slatak still felt a sting, she said.
“I felt the — maybe a little big — universe; everything was a little bit closer to outer space,” she said, adding, “It was a kind of magic.
