Northern Lights Could Be in the Bitterroot Skies This Week

Once in a while, we at KLYQ get advance notice of possible night sky astronomical events. The possibility of Northern Lights over Montana this week is pretty good.

The Sun has unleashed a pretty strong solar wind toward Earth and astronomers are predicting some geomagnetic storms over the North Pole, possibly reaching down into the northern parts of the U.S. That means visible aurora overhead.

Predictions are just that - predictions. So, don't be surprised if the aurora is not very active. But, if you've noticed in the last few nights, the skies have been remarkably clear with lots of stars to view (when the clouds move away). So, look for constellations, at the very least - Orion, The Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, the Pleiades and more.

When to watch? The folks at spaceweather.com say the nights of October 24 and 25 should be the most active. And the aurora could be active at various times (active one hour and not active in the next hour) throughout the night.

Go to a dark place with no street lights and take a look!