Aurora Borealis, photo taken by Kimberly Sibbald

By Jayson Taylor

Aurora borealis may light up sky during early morning hours later this week

Jul 12, 2023 | 6:00 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Summertime is usually not a time of year in which one would expect to see aurora borealis, otherwise known commonly as northern lights. Earlier this week, a forecast from astronomers predicted that large parts of North America would experience northern light in the early hours of Thursday morning.

For Medicine Hat residents, the scenario may not be as exciting as one may have hoped.

According to Laurie Sibbald of Seven Skies Astronomy, he says more than likely the Medicine Hat region will be lucky to even see northern lights on the northern horizon. For Albertans further north, the chances of seeing them are much greater.

A large solar flare observed on the Sun on Sunday had scientists forecasting Earth’s magnetic field a k-index of 5 for Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. The k-index measures disturbances in the planet’s magnetic field and gives it a number between 1 and 9. A k-index of 5 or higher indicates that northern lights are likely to happen.

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On Wednesday however, the k-index was dropped down to a 4, indicating that northern lights may be visible on the northern horizon, but that is not guaranteed. However, there has been observation of the Sun’s energetic activity increasing over recent days causing the possibility for auroras in parts of Canada later on in the week as well.

Sibbald says that the high energy output of the Sun that has been observed by astronomers could increase the amount of auroras that people in Canada can observe over the next year, especially in the winter time, when nights are long and skies are darker giving people a glimmer of light on the horizon.

While residents of the Medicine Hat area may not see auroras as expected earlier this week, people can still observe planets in the night sky, particularly Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.