They are peering from their balconies, perched atop lookouts or drinking coffee, eyes turned to the sky for a hint of color – any color.
By nightfall, aurora borealis chasers were out again in the northern hemisphere on Friday. The bright color, usually seen closer to the North Pole, lit up the sky in an unusual display over the lower latitudes of Europe and North America last week.
Those who missed the lights, or people eager to see another show, set their alarms and monitor aurora-watching apps, hoping for another chance. Some people in Canada and Britain said they were rewarded, while others in the northern United States maintained a keep a watchful eye on the forecasts.
But predicting when an aurora will appear can be tricky, forecasters said, because the sun’s activity during its cycle is constantly changing.
“However, broadly speaking, we know that activity and sunspot numbers should increase during this part of the cycle,” said Tom Morgan, a meteorologist for the Met Office.
At least this weekend, aurora sightings in the United Kingdom is unlikely, according to the Met Office, although there is a “slight chance” the lights could appear in northern Scotland before sunrise on Sunday.
The northern lights may return on Monday over Scotland and Northern Ireland, and there is a chance they will be visible in northern England and Wales. monday is expected to be clear, with some showers.
Seeing the northern lights, seasoned chasers say, requires planning, patience and a team effort.
“We set up a little aurora group in my little village,” said Steve Emery, 50, who lives in the village of Hesket Newmarket in northwest England. He said a group of about 20 people were talking about the forecast.
“It’s kind of becoming a local hobby, which is pretty fun,” he said.
Mr. Emery was sitting up in bed when alerts pinged at 1 a.m. that the northern lights might be visible. He and others in a chat group rushed to their cars to the top of a nearby hill.
“They’re faint but you can see the greens, especially, and the purples,” he said. “They glow too.”
Mr. Emery, 50, said the movement of the lights reminded him of closed curtains swinging at the end of a theater show. Within five minutes, he said, they came and went.
“It happens so fast, you have to be ready for it,” he said, adding that the colors are different every time. “You never know what you’re going to see. That is its addictive nature.”
Others, even with preparation, are frustrated by light pollution, a bright moon or clouds.
Did they catch a glimpse of the aurora, or was it just nearby light pollution? (Got that weird frustration a TikTok video (when two friends in Norwich shared that the purple glow of what they thought was the aurora borealis was, in fact, the light coming from a Premier Inn.)
said Lt. Bryan R. Brasher, project manager at the Space Weather Prediction Center, said that by Sunday and Monday, “conditions are expected to increase slightly back to unsettled or active levels,” with a chance for small solar storms. .
“At that level of storming, the aurora will likely be visible in parts of Alaska and Northern Canada, with little opportunity for aurora viewing along the northern border of the contiguous US,” he said.
Last week’s display of the northern lights came after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare warning on May 10 that a Level 5 solar storm had reached Earth — an extreme event not seen since October 2003. .
Seasoned claims and expert have some tips: Stay away from city lights. Go to a high place with a clear view, such as the top of a hill. Look north. And use your cellphone to take pictures because it has more wavelengths than the eye.
In Norway, Cathe Sletaker was getting ready for bed at her home in Hole, about an hour northwest of Oslo, when she received an alert. He went to his balcony.
The sky was clear, but he caught a pale display of purple, violet and green lights.
“I stayed there until 3 in the morning,” he said. “My cat also visited me, and I took a nice picture of him.”
The lights, he said, were not as strong as last week’s spectacle, but Ms. Sletaker is a tickle.
“I got the feeling — maybe it’s a bit big to say — of the universe; everything is pretty close from space,” he said, adding, “It’s kind of magic.”
