Explainer: The Northern Lights visible again Saturday, how to take photos

UPDATE: Friday night we saw some spectacular photos from followers! We took pictures after 11 p.m. in Barton County among the turbines in North Fork Ridge Wind Farm near Mo-126 & Hwy O and Mo-43 & SW 80th Road.

1. You can take them with a normal phone.
2. The sky looks dark to the normal eye.
3. Use a dark/night exposure setting.
4. Hold the camera super still looking north as it should take 3 seconds or more to take the photo.
5. The coloring of the Aurora will appear in the final photo.

MISSOURI (KOAM) — The National Weather Service St Louis release details of a pending Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch.

The Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch (G4 strength), its first since January 2005. A major group of solar flares (or "coronal mass ejections") are expected to arrive as early as this afternoon and persist through Sunday, May 12th. This is an unusual event.

With the strength of the flares, there is a decent chance of the Northern Lights at least being seen in northern portions of Missouri and into west central Illinois. The aurora may be visible as far south as Alabama to northern California. The best way to see Northern Lights is to get away from city lights into a dark, rural surrounding and look north. Aside from some clouds associated with a passing front tonight, much of the time looks mostly clear.

On a larger scale, geomagnetic storms can cause problems with power grids, radio, and satellite navigation.

Click here for more details, graphs and images on their website .

COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.