Realize your dream of viewing the Northern Lights! As we head toward solar maximum in 2025, it is an extraordinary time for chasing the Aurora Borealis, and there will be many opportunities to view this rare natural phenomenon. Many conditions need to align to create visible Aurora at Crystal Lake, which sits at 44.6° North, not to mention local weather conditions and other wild cards like moon phases and wildfire smoke. Find out what it takes to catch the Aurora in your backyard!

Bring a chair to the beach and listen to Melissa F. Kaelin, an Aurora Chaser, writer and community leader. She has been chasing the Northern Lights for over 10 years. She is the founder of the Michigan Aurora Chasers, a group of over 70,000 members, and co-founder of the annual Aurora Summit, a conference celebrating the art, culture, science and photography of the Aurora Borealis. As a NASA Social Media Ambassador, she covered the 2020 launch of the Solar Orbiter, which builds upon the science of the Parker Solar Probe to study and understand our Sun. She has written about rare natural phenomena for many publications, her Aurora Chasing advice is quoted by International Dark Sky Parks, and she has presented many talks on Aurora Mythology, Aurora Forecasting and Night Sky Adventures. In 2022, she published the book “Below the 45th Parallel”