There’s a lot of talk about whether the global displays of aurora during May 10’s extreme G5 geomagnetic storm will be repeated in June. That’s because it takes 27 days for the sun to rotate once, so the active region that produced the space weather that ultimately caused the landmark aurora is returning to face Earth.

Although it’s wise to prepare for the possibility of aurora at mid-norther latitudes in the northern hemisphere, it’s certainly not guaranteed.

June 6 is the night to watch, plus or minus three or four nights. However, there is a lot that has to happen if there’s to be a repeat. First, the active region 3697 has to produce a series of solar flares. In their wake must be several coronal mass ejections, which are eruptions of clouds of charged particles from the sun’s surface. If that happens, and the CMEs arrive at Earth at the same time, then a big display of aurora may be on the cards.

Since it takes a few days for the effects of CMEs to strike Earth’s magnetosphere, take any news of solar flares and CMEs in the early days of June very seriously. But be wary of hype, relying only on expert advice from the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center and solar physicists online such as Dr. Ryan French and Dr. Tamitha Skov. A G4 or G5 geomagnetic storm is what can make aurora visible in the U.S. and Europe.

At the time of writing, AR3697 (formerly known as AR13664) isn’t quite as active as it was in the days before May 10, but that could change. May 29 saw a X1.4-flare, according to NASA, but resulting aurora are expected to be mild.

Solar activity is unpredictable, although it’s certainly very active at the moment because the sun is approaching “solar maximum,” a once-every-11-years peak in its magnetic activity.

Whatever happens, in some ways the timing of the return of AR3697 couldn’t be better. June 6 is the date of this month’s new moon, meaning the moon will be roughly between the sun and the Earth. Hidden from sight, it will leave the night skies free from moonlight.

However, June is hardly a peak time for aurora-hunting in the northern hemisphere. Most trips to see the aurora around the Arctic Circle —where they are more common because they can be seen during medium geomagnetic activity—occur from September through March. That’s because there’s a lot of darkness at those times. Ditto for the U.K. and Canada, where the nights are now very short.

The upshot is that while aurora became visible on May 10 at the onset of darkness about 11 o’clock, it’s going to be more like midnight in June before the night skies are dark enough at mid-northern latitudes in the northern hemisphere. The best place to be? Probably New Zealand, where it’s now deep into the peak March-September viewing period and where nights are close to their longest.

Failing that, have a Dark Sky Place or somewhere away from light pollution in mind to head to for midnight next week just in case something big is predicted.

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Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.