THE BEST TIME TO SEE THEM
As solar wind hits Earth, northern lights are formed. Northern lights are always occurring, but depending on location, daylight, cloudiness, moonlight conditions, etc., you might not actually see them. Midnight is usually the best time to see them, but that’s not always the case. Here are two factors that can affect when the northern lights get brighter:

1. Magnetic Field Fluctuation: Sometimes Earth’s magnetic fields fluctuate in power. When they do, they can create “open doors” to let solar wind through more openly. It’s not very well understood, but in and around equinoxes (March 20 and September 23 in 2015), the chances to see the northern lights increase substantially.
2. CME’s (Coronal Mass Ejections): CME’s (explosions on the sun) send mass amounts of electromagnetic radiation into space. When one of these explosions is directed toward Earth, it causes a geomagnetic storm, sparking auroras. On rare occasions when a powerful CME hits Earth AND the magnetic field is weakened, northern lights can be seen as far as Texas and even closer to the equator.

INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF SEEING THE LIGHTS
Photographers don’t just end up being in the middle of nowhere in the wee hours of the night. Here are five essential tools that I use to determine when the northern lights are going to hit.

1. I get email alerts about 30 minutes in advance from AuroraWatch. If you’re south of Toronto (about 43.7°N), only ask for the Red Alerts. You won’t see anything less. (Note: If you’d like to get a little more serious and pay for SMS alerts, SpaceWeather.com has a great service as well.)
2. I watch the real-time Aurora map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). If you’re above the red view line, there’s a good chance you’ll see them.
3. I monitor the 3-hour Planetary K-index from NOAA. If it’s above 6.3K AND it’s past dark AND it’s clear outside, there’s a good chance you will see the northern lights.
4. Aurora Forecast also offers a helpful iPhone app.
5. I follow the Facebook feed from Aurora Alerts by Soft Serve News. They provide updates every 30 minutes as well (as to what the next 30 minutes be). Again, watch for 6.3K or higher. If you see something magical over 8.0K, get the kids out of bed and go for a drive.

One huge caveat to all of this is weather and moonlight conditions. If it’s completely overcast outside, ignore all of your alerts—you won’t be able to see the northern lights. Additionally, if you find yourself in a lunar cycle where the moon is full (or close to it), viewing the lights may be severely obstructed.

WHERE TO GO
Simply put, go where it’s dark. When I receive an alert (and I’m not sound asleep), I drive as far away from the city as I can. For high-latitude residents, this isn’t as much of an issue as sometimes the lights can literally be on top of you, but for people like me (who live further south), you’ll want to get as remote as possible. Generally speaking, look north, but that’s not always the case. Solar wind can fluctuate at the drop of a dime so pay attention to east, west and right above you.

One tip that’s often overlooked: try and pick an interesting spot beforehand. Drive around during daylight hours and look for interesting trees, farmhouses, etc. that would make a good foreground for the lights. If you’re thinking about walking into a field, make a visual note of obstacles, holes, etc. Then, go back at night (on a non-northern lights night) to see if your intuitions were correct (i.e. there is no major light pollution, no angry barking farm dogs, etc.). Pictures with good foreground subjects (i.e. buildings, trees, water reflections, mountains, very still people, etc.) are always more interesting than shooting into a flat field.

HOW TO SHOOT THEM
Every person’s gear is going to be different, but there are some common tips that I believe can prove valuable to everyone:?