How to see the Northern Lights in Georgia tonight

ATLANTA – North Georgia is preparing and planning for another celestial aurora display late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, another series of CMEs, also called coronal mass ejections, associated with flare activity from region 3664 over the past few days, are expected to merge and arrive at Earth by noon (UTC) on May 12.

Periods of G4-G5 (strong to extreme) geomagnetic storms will likely follow the arrival of these CMEs.

HAYLEY TODD FROM EUHARLEE

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Aurora will likely become visible over much of the northern half of the country.

In northern Georgia, generally clear skies are expected overnight, making conditions ideal for viewing these aurorae.

What time will the Northern Lights be visible tonight?

The best aurora is usually seen an hour or two after midnight (between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time), but from our perspective, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to see the northern lights with the naked eye. Therefore, you will need a special camera or you will need to adjust your smartphone’s camera settings.

How to Capture the Northern Lights on a Smartphone

FOX 13 Seattle Managing Editor Kristina Moy has put together the following cohesive guide to help you capture this celestial spectacle on your smartphone:

If you don’t have a fancy camera, the Hello Aurora blog says you can still “record impressive videos in good conditions” using an iPhone or Android. To do this, Hello Aurora recommends the following steps:

Step 1: Open your camera app and switch to Photo mode

Hello Aurora says the aurora is more visible in your camera’s photo mode than in video mode due to the longer exposure time used when capturing a photo.

Step 2: Record your screen using your phone’s screen recording feature

Step 3: Edit

To get the best possible video, Hello Aurora recommends editing your recorded video by removing the initial segment where you enabled screen recording. Then, crop the screen as you like.

When using Photo mode, Hello Aurora says it “minimizes camera shake and produces sharper images,” but this varies depending on your phone model and software version. If your phone’s camera quality isn’t clear enough to see the Northern Lights, the blog recommends downloading an external app like NightCap, to improve visibility.

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If you’re using an iPhone 11 Pro or newer, Visit Iceland recommends using Night mode and says to “use it to adjust your exposure time (around 10 to 15 seconds) to capture the aurora dance.”