WEATHER

Northern lights were visible again in Utah

Oct 10, 2024, 9:38 PM | Updated: 10:32 pm

SALT LAKE CITY The northern lights, or the aurora borealis, are not a common sight, but for the last few nights, the rare light show has been popping over Utah skies. And Utahns have another chance to spot them on Thursday and Friday nights.

KSL TV viewers from Willard Bay to Monticello saw the northern lights and sent photos to the AsYouSeeIt page.

A time-lapse from KSL TV videographer Greg Anderson, captured Monday in Huntsville, vividly shows the lights. The stars’ trails show the rotation of the Earth as the aurora borealis lights up the Weber County sky.

 

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If you want to see it Thursday night, a Utah astronomy enthusiast said your best bet is to get out of town.

“Somewhere away from artificial light pollution, and where you’re not looking over a major city,” said Patrick Wiggins, NASA Ambassador to Utah.

Wiggins runs the Harmons Observatory in Stansbury Park for the Salt Lake Astronomical Society. He said we normally only get so-so glimpses of the northern lights in Utah twice a year. So, cloud permitting, if they’re back Thursday night, it’s a rare treat.

“I can’t guarantee that you will see it, but if you don’t try, I’ll guarantee you won’t see it,” Wiggins said.


Tooele County residents told KSL TV that they are excited to see the show.

“I’d definitely like to check them out tonight. That’d be awesome,” said Anthony Keysaw.

“I thought about having to go up to Alaska to see them, and the fact that we could see them here is amazing,” said Chris Youngblood.

“Now that I can see them from basically my porch, I want to go out and see them,” said Amber Hingley.

If you’re one of them, Wiggins said, the best thing you can do is find that dark spot, be patient, and stay alert.

“The one that happened two nights ago, basically it was only there for 15 – 20 minutes and then it was gone,” Wiggins said.

There’s no specific timetable for spotting the northern lights in Utah Thursday night, but your best tool to know when and where is to visit the Space Weather Live website. On the website, convert the time stamp from UTC to Mountain Time.

 

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Northern lights were visible again in Utah