The Northern Lights will appear in Canada this month and you can live stream it

By Eul Basa on March 22nd, 2020

As we wait in eager anticipation for a merciful twist of fate in these trying times, nature continues to offer us silver linings that help keep our faith alive. While they are in no way solutions to our current plight, they serve as glimmers of hope for good things to come. Tonight's silver lining? The Northern Lights, which are expected to appear over Canada this month.

While a trip to see the lights is not an option for many people right now, you can still witness the magic at home, thanks to a live stream being fed from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre in Manitoba. The live stream is being offered for free courtesy of Explore.org, a multimedia organization that owns a network of free nature live cams.

"This live cam is located directly underneath the aurora oval—one of the best places on Earth to watch the aurora borealis," reads the Explore.org website.

Typically, the Northern Lights appear in Canadian skies year-round, but they are much better observed in the late winter and early spring when the Arctic is dark for most of the day and the skies are clear. Those are the best times of the year to catch the lights, which means March is a perfect time to tune into the live stream.

Explore.org explains the phenomenon in simple terms: "The Northern Lights is the common name for the aurora borealis, or a luminous display visible when the earth's magnetic fields interact with charged particles from the sun. These lights can be seen above both poles; the southern lights are called 'aurora australis."

Currently, aurora forecasts predict moderate activity tonight. To optimize your chances, tune in during the darkest hours of the night, which is from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. EDT. If you aren't able to catch the live broadcast, you can still see the lights as the live stream will show highlights from previous displays.

You can live stream the Northern Lights via Explore.org here.