# Anyone else seeing the Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis tonight Aug 17 2022? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2022, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864 "2022-08-18T03:28:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/1 "2022-08-18T03:28:55Z")
What with encroaching light pollution, it’s been over a decade since I’ve seen them here at my home, at ~43.60 latitude North, still a bit closer to the equator than to the north pole. But my home is on Lake Michigan’s shore and we’ve got a bit of, well, NOT a ‘dark zone’ but a less light polluted zone, probably the darkest spot on SE Wisconsin’s shoreline. And tonight is completely clear here, moonless and as a result voila, there it is! In all its glory! Not particularly colorful, but strong double bands of white light, slowly wavering, two band stretching well over 2/3 of the sky! Magnificent! I can even make out the band of the Milky way too, something not so rare as the aurora, but no longer normal for most clear nights around these parts. The Mrs. and I sat on a bench on the beach, staring up for about 20 minutes, taking it all in. Then she got cold, so I kept watch for another 20 minutes. What a sight! I do hope one day to see it in the far north, where it could be strong enough to see its varied hues and see even more bands/curtains of it. But I’m still pretty pumped up from the view I got from my own doorstep. What are the rest of you seeing tonight? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/2 "2022-08-18T03:33:21Z")
I’ve never seen them. I’ve lived in Arizona for 40 years, and never traveled anyplace that had good viewing. It’s on my list of things to do… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/3 "2022-08-18T03:37:04Z")
I’m at 41.8 degrees north, in suburban Chicago. It’s a clear, gorgeous night, but light pollution is pretty bad here, and one can normally only make out the brightest stars. Due to the light pollution, and the relatively southern latitude, I don’t ever have high hopes of spotting an aurora here, and tonight is no exception. I just stood outside for about 10 minutes, letting my eyes adapt to the darkness, but there was no sign of the aurora. FWIW, I have, once, seen the aurora from this area – and that was when we were living even closer to the city, and light pollution was likely at least as bad, if not worse. But, that was also 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/4 "2022-08-18T03:40:57Z")
I’m at 48.0633° N in Montana and hoping to see it, but the recent wildfires in the area may make that impossible. Should I be looking due north? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/5 "2022-08-18T03:42:14Z")
My best views were looking from NNE to NW. I watched one band waver back and forth across the pole star over 40 minutes ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/6 "2022-08-18T05:52:54Z")
I’m so jealous (southerner here). I hope to see them someday. Good luck to anyone up north who is out looking. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/7 "2022-08-18T06:19:39Z")
In early 90s I once saw the aurora borealis shining down in Dallas. Can you picture that? (well, it was in the farm country north of Dallas, out of its immediate light pollution, but close enough. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/8 "2022-08-18T06:24:28Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I’ve never seen them. I’ve lived in Arizona for 40 years, and never traveled anyplace that had good viewing. > It’s on my list of things to do… Here’s a tweet from a year and a half ago, showing a beautiful display up at La Ronge, Sask. (Not taken by me, I hasten to add.) > I wouldn’t say it’s rare to see them here. More, “Oh look, there’s the northern lights.” My best viewing was one night when I was at a movie theatre and walked out the side exit after the movie. My eyes were used to the dark, and there was a beautiful pink display dancing in the skies. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/9 "2022-08-18T08:11:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I wouldn’t say it’s rare to see them here. More, “Oh look, there’s the northern lights.” Same as here, at 49+ degrees North. I used to live a little farther north, and would watch them from my front porch. They’re fun to watch, but they don’t appear as frequently as they would much farther north–I have a beautiful photo of them, taken in Yellowknife, where they are pretty common. I do recall the night I was living a little ways north of Toronto (44 degrees North), and driving a country road home. It was a cloudless night, but being a country road, was not lit. There was something outside in the sky. I pulled over and shut off the headlights. And there they were, in the sky of southern Ontario! Faint, but beautiful. So they can appear farther south than you might expect. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/10 "2022-08-18T12:43:51Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > It’s on my list of things to do… Same here. I live at 38.65N, so not likely to see it near home. We were in central/south-central Alaska in late May early June this year, but no show for us. The 21 hours of daylight probably didn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/11 "2022-08-18T13:01:07Z")
Very cool. I don’t think I would have been able to see the AB from my backyard last night-- too much light pollution, too many tall trees on the horizon. I saw the AB only once, in Northern Michigan while camping, a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/12 "2022-08-18T13:05:50Z")
A weather presenter has just said i might get to see them tonight (18th)… I’m in the UK, 51.91 N - which appears to be more norther than many here who have seen them - and i’ve never seen them. Typical. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/13 "2022-08-18T14:41:49Z")
Too cloudy to see anything last night. If anything would tempt me to travel to the frigid desolate end of the earth it would be the chance to see the aurora. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/14 "2022-08-18T14:45:01Z")
There’s another chance tonight, for anyone far enough south. Good luck skywatchers! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/15 "2022-08-18T15:05:13Z")
And maybe the rest of this week, for a lot of people; at least, if it’s clear. Expected to peak Thursday and end Friday: > **[The Northern Lights may move farther south into the mainland U.S. this week](https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1118094707/the-northern-lights-might-move-farther-south-into-the-mainland-u-s-this-week)** > > The Northern Lights, known scientifically as auroras borealis, are triggered by geomagnetic activity from the sun. They typically occur closer to the North Pole, near Alaska and Canada. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/16 "2022-08-18T16:41:58Z")
44 degrees north, so seeing them is not unusual. The 10 o’clock news hyped it up as a miracle, and urged everyone to go outside. They forgot to mention that we had thick cloud cover all night (and tonight too); the weatherman was too lazy to actually go outside. I’ve seen some pretty spectacular displays here, but none since 2014. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/17 "2022-08-18T21:11:58Z")
My best spotting was in Platteville, WI which is south of my current location. I forgot to look last night, but my yard has nontrivial light pollution. I can get to a much darker spot with a 5 min drive (I did that for a recent comet) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/18 "2022-08-18T21:18:33Z")
I use the Android [My Aurora](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrustonapps.myauroraforecast&hl=en&gl=US) app to keep an eye out for the aurora. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/19 "2022-08-19T02:17:18Z")
I saw them went I went to churchill to look at polar bears. They are gorgeous. I live in a well lit city so no chance here. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864/20 "2022-08-19T14:10:04Z")
Well, they were not visible to me last night despite a clear sky. I’m grateful I saw them the night before. With retirement upon us, the Mrs. and I agree we want to do some extended road trips to points north where we’ll be able to have a chance to see the lights in their greater glory sometime. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seeing-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-tonight-aug-17-2022/969864.md?page=2)