PHOTOS: Auroras dance above northern Schuylkill again
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - The Aurora Borealis is seen from the Ringtown Valley Scenic View in Union Township on April 23, 2023.
UPDATE AND MORE PHOTOS: https://shensentinel.com/news/auroras-dazzle-onlookers-at-ringtown-overlook/
UNION TOWNSHIP – Just two miles outside Shenandoah, the Aurora Borealis could be seen dancing above the Ringtown Valley night sky Sunday night.
According to the National Weather Service, a geomagnetic storm hit the Earth Sunday, making the auroras far south into the lower 48 states.
The Kp index, which characterizes the magnitude of geomagnetic storms, was rated around an 8 Sunday. The Kp index is a scale from 0 to 9.
Generally, when the index is above a 6, the northern lights may be seen from the Ringtown Valley Scenic View in Union Township, and they certainly were Sunday night.
Along with sightings there, social media postings indicated they were visible in Centre County, as well as Wisconsin, and the other Shenandoah, in Virginia.
The lights were faintly visible to the unadjusted naked eye. It is recommended that viewers allow their eyes to adjust to the dark of night to better see the lights.
This is the third time this year the lights were at least partially visible over northern Schuylkill County. On February 26, a clear night gave way to a light show, and on March 24, the auroras teased their presence from behind a broken cloudcover.
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