06/04/2026
Locations, locations, locations!!
Good morning friends, Aurora chasers and enthusiasts alike!
To address another common question in the group I would like to touch base on the location topic one more time.
In geography we learned about longitude and latitude, many of us thinking we will never think of this again, but I want to talk latitude for a moment.
Northerners can scroll on, your rule book differs here. đ
When people ask me my specific location and then challenge what I respond with, there are two reasons.
One: Ontario is so incredibly vast and we are under the same sky across the province. What I mean is Lake Huronâs shores and the GTA are along the same latitude lines. If you look at a map and the auroral oval patterns you will see a commonality. The auroral oval is a ring of aurora activity that expands southward during geomagnetic storms. When it pushes to our latitude it doesnât pick a specific city or shoreline, it pushes across the entire latitude band simultaneously. So if the oval is touching southern Ontario it is touching all of southern Ontario at roughly the same time.
Two: I donât share my space with others in the dark. Itâs a personal safety and shooting preference.
Many people assume they need to travel north to see what I see. But places like Vaughan, Newmarket, and Barrie are already sitting at the same latitude as Huron County or higher. The issue for GTA chasers isnât latitude, itâs light pollution. You donât need to travel as far as you think. You just need to get dark.
You donât need to travel hours on a high forecasted night. You just need to find a safe and dark place to park with a nice tree, waterscape, old rusty wind turbine, or whatever suits your foreground fancy, or simply an open northern skyline.
For those in the GTA or anywhere, pull up lightpollutionmap.info as well as check Windy.com for cloud cover expected.
NOAA publishes a 30-minute auroral oval forecast at swpc.noaa.gov which shows where the oval is predicted to push based on solar wind data already measured upstream. It is not perfect but it is one of the better short-term tools available and worth bookmarking.
Look for your most direct route away from the city and home when you are super tired. Plan in that range to find public parking in a safe location with a nice northeast to northwestern view.
Things to bear in mind: cloud and atmospheric coverage varies across Ontario tonight. Clouds do move so you can sit tight sometimes and wait for a hole. They can also add a dramatic effect to your images but with a waning moon and potential moisture they could wash out a display as well. It gives a challenge to the photographer looking to play with a new element in shooting. Coverage may be more problematic into Friday but could be localized tonight. Our forecasters are excellent however they are not always able to pinpoint all the criteria necessary to make the sky light up over the horizon.
For people new to the community in Ontario - I recommend joining the Ontario Aurora Chasers page here on Facebook, for moderator forecast updates which will follow closer to the evening hours.
Happy Chasing Friends.
