REAL TIME AURORA BOREALIS PREDICTION:
Here is the prediction of storm intensity for the next few minutes (the higher the Kp number, the larger the Aurora):
The Soft Serve News Aurora Prediction Now,It’s a good sign if you see a thick aurora band with some areas of light yellow, orange or, better yet, RED on this map as opposed to just a thin (or transparent) band with only dark green.
The size of a visible Aurora will be bigger than what is shown on this map, because the map gives the overhead location of the Aurora.
The area of a visible aurora is greater because it can be seen at spots other than 90 degrees directly up (straight above your head).
The Aurora might be visible at 45 degrees, 30 degrees or even lower on the horizon depending on its brightness.
REAL TIME Bz
Bz is the solar wind’s magnetic orientation in the up/down direction. Although an Aurora can happen with a positive Bz, a negative Bz is generally better.
A negative Bz helps the solar wind grab the earth’s magnetic field which can more easily lead to an Aurora. So a negative Bz is good. The more negative the better.
Each number in the diagram below represents a rolling 5 minute average of the Bz taken along the length of the solar wind stream.
This data comes from a satellite about 1 million miles from earth. These 5 minute stream segments are all headed towards earth. They should arrive in 20 to 40 minutes.
They are given in the order they’ll hit earth, with the first 5 minute average hitting first. Think of each number representing a 5 minute long cloud of solar wind speeding towards earth. Remember, it’s best for Bz to be negative, and the more negative, the better.
