Sky Event & Aurora Alert Watch

Why this is recommended

The northern lights reached Texas twice last cycle and most people found out the next morning. One alert on the right night, with the direction to look and the hour, is worth the year of membership.

What the Tab covers

Who it is for

Families, campers, photographers and anyone who has ever wanted to see the northern lights from their backyard.

When it runs

The week's sky is set on Monday; an aurora storm cannot wait for it

Scope

The continental United States; NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center storm watches and warnings of G2 or higher with the southernmost states likely to see aurora; meteor shower peaks within 14 days; lunar and solar eclipses, conjunctions, occultations and naked-eye comets; launches within 7 days visible from Florida, California, Virginia and Texas; International Space Station passes brighter than magnitude minus 2 for the 20 largest metros; dark-sky park events

Suggested task

The objective your Tab starts with. You can edit every line of it once the Tab is yours.

Aurora forecasts with the latitude that will see them, meteor showers with peak nights and moon conditions, eclipses, planetary conjunctions and comets visible without equipment, rocket launches visible from populated areas and launch viewing windows, space station passes for the twenty largest metros and dark-sky events, with the event and the best night first.

Track the night sky for the continental United States. Report only confirmed, source-backed items from the last 7 days, or same-day for storm watches: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center geomagnetic storm watches and warnings of G2 or higher with the southernmost states likely to see aurora and the best viewing hours; meteor shower peaks within 14 days with rates, moon phase and best hours; lunar and solar eclipses, planetary conjunctions, occultations and naked-eye comets with times; rocket launches within 7 days visible from populated areas in Florida, California, Virginia and Texas, with launch windows and viewing spots; International Space Station passes brighter than magnitude minus 2 for the 20 largest metros; and dark-sky park events. Prefer NOAA SWPC, NASA, the American Meteor Society, Sky and Telescope, launch providers and Spot the Station; ignore clickbait predictions and unverified viral posts. Put the event and the best night first in the title with the direction and hour to look. Use high severity for a G3 or higher storm watch, a total eclipse, or a launch visible from a metro over 2 million people. Return no more than 6 findings. Push each as a finding with a title, a two-sentence summary, sections for what to see, when, where to look, and the source link. If nothing qualifies, push nothing and submit the run receipt.