The Northern Lights Might Be Visible in Southern Illinois Sunday Night

JUNE 1, 2025 -- The Northern Lights, also known as the aurora borealis, may be visible in Southern Illinois Sunday night and Monday morning. The Northern Lights happens when charged particles from the sun slam into Earth’s atmosphere and interact with gases like oxygen and nitrogen. This energy gets released as light—usually green, but sometimes red, purple, or even blue.

Normally, these lights are only visible near the North and South Poles, but when the sun sends out a particularly strong solar storm, those particles can reach farther south. That’s when we here in Southern Illinois might have a shot at seeing them.

Every once in a while, a strong geomagnetic storm—the kind triggered by big solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—can push the aurora down into Southern Illinois. You may remember this happening last year in May 2024.

A rather impressive solar flare occurred earlier in the week with the coronal mass ejection impacting Earth beginning Saturday night. Unfortunately for those wanting to see the Northern Lights, the peak of the activity may have occurred early Sunday morning and into the daylight hours.

Unlike regular weather forecasting, predicting the Northern Lights is kind of like predicting a thunderstorm halfway across the solar system. We can’t always tell how strong a solar flare is until it’s already on its way to Earth. The magnetic direction (called Bz) of the solar wind matters a lot—if it’s pointing south, we get stronger auroras. But we often don’t know that until the storm hits Earth. Even small timing errors (an hour or two) can make a big difference in visibility.

Aurora forecasts are best viewed as nowcasts—once things start happening, we can tell if there's a chance, but there’s always a little bit of mystery in the mix this far south.

Even if the Northern Lights are not as vivid as they were in May 2024, we may still be able to view them using a phone Sunday night.

HOW TO USE YOUR PHONE

✅ Use Night or Pro Mode

On iPhones, use Night Mode and set a longer exposure (up to 30 seconds).

On Android phones, switch to Pro Mode and set your ISO between 800–1600 with a shutter speed of 10–30 seconds.

✅ Stabilize Your Phone

Use a tripod, a fence post, or even a backpack to keep your phone steady.

✅ Focus to Infinity

If your phone lets you adjust focus, set it to infinity so the stars and lights stay sharp.

✅ Find a Dark Spot

Get away from city lights and face north with a wide view of the horizon.

✅ Be Patient

Take several shots. The aurora can fade in and out or suddenly brighten, so don’t give up too quickly.

With a little bit of luck, the Northern Lights might be visible in Southern Illinois Sunday evening. Fingers crossed!