‘It’s been really pretty’: Stargazers gather in Placerville for glimpse of Northern Lights
CLOSER LOOK. YOU CAN SEE THE FOUR GALILEAN MOONS FROM THE OBSERVATORY IN PLACERVILLE. I THINK I SEE THEM. GOOD JOB. THESE TELESCOPES OFFER VIEWS THAT MANY HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE. EVERYBODY GET A CHANCE TO SEE JUPITER. IT’S A CHANCE TO SEE LIGHT YEARS AWAY. HERE’S SATURN WITH TWO MOONS. I SEE IT, BUT THAT’S NOT WHY PEOPLE ARE HERE. ON A MONDAY NIGHT. WE CAME OVER HERE TO SEE THE AURORA AND SEE IF WE CAN TRY TO SEE IT. THE OBSERVATORY OFFERS A DARK PLACE AWAY FROM CITY LIGHTS AND ABOVE THE FOG LINE TO TRY AND GET A GLIMPSE OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. IT WAS JUST LIKE REDDISH PINKISH AND IT WAS REALLY LIGHT. A VIEW YOU DON’T NEED A TELESCOPE TO SEE. INSTEAD, JUST A CAMERA LENS. IT LOOKS LIKE PINK. IT’S RARE TO SEE THE AURORA DOWN THIS FAR SOUTH. RAJ DIXIT WITH THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, CREDITS A CORONAL MASS EJECTION FOR CREATING A STRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM THAT COULD SPAWN AURORA AS FAR SOUTH AS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. IT’S VERY EXCITING BECAUSE NORMALLY TO SEE THESE, I QUITE FRANKLY THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER I MIGHT NEVER SEE THEM DURING MY OWN LIFETIME UNLESS I WAS WILLING TO PONY UP FOR A TRIP TO NORWAY OR ALASKA OR ICELAND. BUT NOW A CAMERA AND A DRIVE TO PLACERVILLE CAN BRING YOU A WHOLE NEW VIEW. I WAS REALLY, REALLY COOL AND LIKE AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE IN PLACERVILLE PEYTON HEADLEE KCRA THREE NEWS. YEAH, IT IS REALLY COOL AND THE POTENTIAL TO SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS COULD LAST INTO TOMORROW NIGHT AND WE ALL WANT TO SEE THEM. SO LET’S GET BACK TO DIRK. YEAH. SO WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS A CORONAL MASS EJECTION. THAT WAS WHAT WAS MENTIONED THERE WITH. AND THAT STORY AND WHAT IT IS IS THE SUN JUST PUTS OUT A WHOLE BUNCH OF CHARGED PARTICLES IN OUR DIRECTION. IT’S LIKE AN EXPLOSION. AND IT WORKS ITS WAY TOWARDS THE EARTH, AND IT CREATES A GEOMAGNETIC STORM. AS THOSE PARTICLES GO INTO OUR MAGNETOSPHERE OR THE MAGNET MAGNETISM AROUND THE EARTH. AND WE GET THESE GEOMAGNETIC STORMS AND THEY GO RANGE FROM ANYWHERE FROM A G1 TO A G5. SO MINOR, MODERATE, STRONG, SEVERE AND EXTREME. THIS ONE PRODUCED A SEVERE LEVEL GEOMAGNETIC STORM. SO THAT’S WHERE YOU COULD HAVE RADIO AND SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS AFFECTED BY THIS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT ALSO CAN CREATE AN AURORA AT LOWER LATITUDES. AND WHAT’S INTERESTING HERE IS WE’RE GOING TO TAKE A LOOK AT EUROPE. THEY GOT THE BRUNT OF IT HERE IN EUROPE THROUGH MUCH OF PARIS, NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, GERMANY. I SAW SOME GREAT PICTURES THAT CAME OUT OF GERMANY, LONDON, IRELAND. ALL THESE ARE, OF COURSE, THE IN THROUGH THE NORTHERN PORTIONS THERE OF NORWAY AS WELL AS SWEDEN. AND THEY HAD A LOT OF THIS AURORA THAT WAS FORMING. BUT WE ALSO HERE IN THE UNITED STATES FROM NORTH CAROLINA, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO NORTHERN NEW MEXICO, COLORADO, WYOMING REPORTED THAT AND TOOK SOME PICTURES. I SAW SOME OF THOSE HAVEN’T SEEN MUCH OTHER THAN THOSE IMAGES FROM CAMERAS IN HERE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. BUT WE HAVE BEEN SEEING SOME OF THAT IN OUR AREA. BUT IT’S BEEN VERY FAINT. SO REALLY, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO SEE IT WITH THE UNAIDED EYE. BUT IF YOU DO HAVE YOUR PHONE, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GE
‘It’s been really pretty’: Stargazers gather in Placerville for glimpse of Northern Lights
Updated: 10:11 PM PST Jan 19, 2026
A few dozen people made their way to the Placerville Observatory on Monday night, hoping to catch a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights, which were visible only through a camera lens.”We came over here to see the aurora and see if we can try to see it like through our phones, and we’ve been seeing it like, through waves, and it’s been really pretty,” 11-year-old Evelyn Strange said. “It was just like reddish pinkish and it was really light.”The observatory, located away from city lights and above the fog line, offered a prime location to attempt to view the Northern Lights. “It’s rare to see the aurora down this far south,” Raj Dixit of the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society said. “I, quite frankly, thought I might never see them during my own lifetime unless I was willing to pony up for a trip to Norway or Alaska or Iceland or Finland. Normally, you have to go to the Arctic Circle.”The aurora was spawned from a coronal mass ejection, known as a CME, which created a strong geomagnetic storm in Earth’s magnetic fields.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
PLACERVILLE, Calif. —
A few dozen people made their way to the Placerville Observatory on Monday night, hoping to catch a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights, which were visible only through a camera lens.
“We came over here to see the aurora and see if we can try to see it like through our phones, and we’ve been seeing it like, through waves, and it’s been really pretty,” 11-year-old Evelyn Strange said. “It was just like reddish pinkish and it was really light.”
The observatory, located away from city lights and above the fog line, offered a prime location to attempt to view the Northern Lights.
“It’s rare to see the aurora down this far south,” Raj Dixit of the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society said. “I, quite frankly, thought I might never see them during my own lifetime unless I was willing to pony up for a trip to Norway or Alaska or Iceland or Finland. Normally, you have to go to the Arctic Circle.”
The aurora was spawned from a coronal mass ejection, known as a CME, which created a strong geomagnetic storm in Earth’s magnetic fields.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel