Flint, MI – Oct. 10, 2024 | 3:45 p.m.

Astronomer and Executive Director of Longway Planetarium, Todd Slisher, has been watching the sky news and predicts this weekend will be a great time for sky watchers to catch two rare phenomena in the nighttime sky. The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and a bright comet named C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will both be making dramatic appearances starting tonight.

A large Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) coming from the sun hit Earth on Thursday afternoon, along with a large solar flare. "These are the conditions that can cause Aurora to be visible in our region and possibly U.S. States south of Michigan," Slisher stated. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a G4 geomagnetic storm alert for Thursday evening through Saturday morning, meaning Aurora may be visible both Thursday and Friday nights.

Slisher recommended getting away from city lights for the best viewing of the Northern Lights, such as a local park without lights. Generally, most aurora are visible to the north, but a strong display will be seen overhead. Unlike photographs of the Aurora, most Northern Lights look pale white or wispy gray, Slisher added. "You might mistake it for a cloud at first. The vibrant colors generally only show up in photos. If it’s a strong display, you might be able to see hints of red or green, but our eyes don’t pick up colors as easily as a camera. Most phone cameras now have a night mode, and you can get great pictures even with a modest phone camera."

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
Another great sight in the sky will be visible Saturday night through next week. A bright comet named Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be visible in the early evening sky in the west and should be bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye. It will be very low in the sky, so it's important to find a spot at sunset with a good western horizon, not blocked by trees or buildings. Like the Aurora, the comet is best viewed from a place without city light pollution, and the darker your skies, the better the view of the comets long fainter tail will be visible. Binoculars can help improve the view. The comet will be the brightest October 12-14, and then will slowly fade from view during the month as it gets higher in the western sky.

 

About Longway Planetarium
Sloan Museum of Discovery and Longway Planetarium are overseen by the non-profit Flint Institute of Science and History (F.I.S.H.) with a shared mission to engage communities on a learning journey in history and science. Located within the Flint Cultural Center Campus in Flint, Michigan, Sloan Museum of Discovery opened in July, 2022, with four primary hands-on learning galleries and one exhibition hall for special traveling exhibits. The original Sloan Museum opened in 1966 as the Sloan Panorama of Transportation, named after long-time General Motors president, chairman and CEO Alfred P. Sloan. The new Sloan Museum of Discovery is nearly twice the size at 107,000 square feet and completely re-built into a re-imagined world-class, hands-on science and history museum. Longway Planetarium, named for Robert T. Longway, a community leader and one of the men responsible for the development of the Flint Cultural Center, opened in 1958 and was totally renovated in 2015. Additional upgrades to Digistar 7 projection system were made in 2021. It remains the largest planetarium in Michigan. Classes on the solar system and general science are offered to school groups and the general public. Both institutions are supported in part by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). Educational programs are supported, in part, by the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage. Learn more at www.SloanLongway.org.