[Phys-L] aurora forecast
- From: John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>
- Date: Sat, 6 May 2023 19:04:21 -0700
Aurora season is now.
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/explore-night-bob-king/get-ready-for-the-aurora/
The last time the 3-day aurora forecast looked like this, the resulting aurora
was visible all the way to southern Arizona.
This week's show won't be optimal, especially if there is haze in your air,
because the moon is nearly full.
There's also a 3-hour forecast, which is much more accurate than the 3-day
Forecast. NOAA parked a satellite at the L1 Lagrange point, which is an amusing
bit of real-world physics.
More generally: The aurora "dashboard" page is here:
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-dashboard-experimental
It contains some hints on how to interpret the forecast numbers, and contains
links to more-detailed pages.
The 3-day forecast is broken out here:
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/3-day-forecast
Right now it looks like this:
NOAA Kp index breakdown May 07-May 09 2023
May 07 May 08 May 09
00-03UT 2.00 6.00 (G2) 4.67 (G1)
03-06UT 2.00 6.67 (G3) 4.33
06-09UT 1.67 5.67 (G2) 4.00
09-12UT 3.67 5.00 (G1) 3.67
12-15UT 4.67 (G1) 4.67 (G1) 3.33
15-18UT 4.67 (G1) 4.33 3.00
18-21UT 5.67 (G2) 4.00 3.33
21-00UT 5.67 (G2) 4.33 3.67
============
Note: You can get apps for your phone that will push a notification of upcoming
space weather events. I haven't tried any of them. Mostly I just glance at the
3-day forecast every so often. You can also subscribe to email alerts, directly
from NOAA:
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/subscription-services