Technologies

An Aurora Is Hitting Monday Night Only and Will Be Visible in Over a Dozen States

Increased solar flare activity over the last few days will cause the northern horizon to light up for many states.

As the sun continues the tumultuous peak of its 11-year cycle, more instances of aurora borealis have been expected. The most recent instance was earlier in August when auroras lit up the skies in 18 states. It seems the Earth is in for another battering of solar material as another aurora has been forecast for Monday night, and it should be a pretty decent one for states in the northern US.

According to NOAA, the Earth will experience a geomagnetic storm with a Kp 5 rating. For the uninitiated, the K-index is a measure of how strong geomagnetic storms are and a Kp 5 rating is designated as a «moderate» storm by NOAA. In general, the stronger the geomagnetic storm, the further south an aurora appears, and a Kp 5 will almost assuredly drag the northern lights into the US.

This week’s geomagnetic storm comes to us courtesy of the sun. Per SpaceWeatherLive, there were a number of solar flares ejected from the sun over the last several days, a pattern of increased solar activity that also caused the aurora on Aug. 8.

Where will the aurora be visible?

The states that can be expected to see it include Washington, the northern tip of Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the northern horn of Michigan. If it’s dark enough and people face north, it may also be visible in Wyoming, Iowa, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Of course, the best view will be in Alaska, where the whole state should be able to see the most intense part of the aurora.

NOAA says the storm will peak at around 0300 to 0900 UTC, which translates to 11 p.m. through 5 a.m. ET (8 p.m. to 2 a.m. PT).

Tips to see the aurora

If you live in one of the aforementioned states, your best bet is to get somewhere elevated and away from city or suburban light pollution, and then simply point yourself north. Photographers looking to catch a glimpse will want to use long exposure times to give the camera ample time to take in as much aurora light as possible.

If you plan on taking a trip out to the sticks to see it, keep an eye out for shooting stars at the tail end of Perseids meteor shower and you may be able to spot some plants in the last planet parade of 2025.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #1008

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 15, No. 1,008

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough, but the yellow category has some fun options in it. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Mine, all mine!

Green group hint: A part you might use to build something.

Blue group hint: Blended words.

Purple group hint: Not a cow, but close.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Greedily control.

Green group: Toothed wheels.

Blue group: Portmanteaux.

Purple group: Bull ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is greedily control. The four answers are bogart, corner, hog and monopolize.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is toothed wheels. The four answers are cog, gear, pinion and sprocket.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is portmanteaux. The four answers are blog, motel, smog and spork.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is bull ____. The four answers are dog, doze, frog and horn.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #742

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 15, No. 742.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is fun and timely, relating to a certain big ceremony held this weekend. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Best of all

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: The envelope, please.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RATE, RATED, DATE, DOTE, DATED, DOTED, GATE, GATES, TROD, TRODS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: