aurora borealis

National

NPR's most-read stories of 2024 include a scam-fighter and zombie second mortgages

5:00am December 20, 2024

How can you outsmart scammers? What would you do if your friend was attacked by a wild cougar? NPR readers wanted to know the answers to those questions and more in 2024.

Science

Are auroras coming back?

3:58pm May 31, 2024

by Bill Chappell

The same solar region that brought an outburst of night-time beauty in early May is coming back around. But things have changed, a space weather expert tells NPR.

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen in the sky in the early morning hours of Monday, April 24, 2023, near Washtucna, Wash.

Science

Stronger activity on the sun could bring more displays of the northern lights in 2024

5:00am November 09, 2023

by Ayana Archie

Scientists have updated their forecast for the current solar cycle, which usually lasts about 11 years. Solar activity is now expected to peak earlier and to be stronger than previously thought.

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen in the sky in the early morning hours of April 24, near Washtucna, Wash. An intense solar storm has the aurora borealis gracing the skies farther south than usual.

Science

The northern lights are coming to several states this week. Here's how to see them

6:00am July 09, 2023

by Ayana Archie

This week's geomagnetic storm will bring the aurora borealis further south. The Space Weather Prediction Center says the best time to view the aurora borealis is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time.

The northern lights (aurora borealis) illuminate the sky over Reinfjorden in Reine, on Lofoten Islands in the Arctic Circle in 2017.

Science

What Causes The Northern Lights? Scientists Finally Know For Sure

9:57am June 10, 2021

by Joe Hernandez

An article suggests the natural light show starts when disturbances on the sun pull on Earth's magnetic field, creating cosmic waves that launch electrons into the atmosphere to form the aurora.

The "Aurora Forecast" from NOAA shows areas of the U.S. and Canada where the northern lights could have been visible Friday night.

Northern Lights Put On Show, Thanks To Large Solar Flare

8:50am September 13, 2014

by Bill Chappell

If you weren't far enough in the north — or well-rested enough – to see the show, don't worry: stunning images were posted to Twitter and elsewhere. Here's a selection.