Indiana
Will Indiana see the northern lights tonight, Dec. 8? It’s possible
Watch as Indiana night sky dazzles with beautiful aurora
Indiana residents were lucky to watch beautiful northern lights in several cities across the state.
The northern lights could return once again to skies over Indiana late Monday night, Dec. 8, nearly a month after colorful auroras dazzled not only the Hoosier State, but Florida, too.
Over the weekend, scientists with NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center caught a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) expected to collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere sometime Monday.
Federal forecasters on Dec. 8 released an aurora forecast map that includes nearly a dozen U.S. states with chances to see the northern lights directly overhead. The southern-most viewing line slices just north of Indiana, but that doesn’t rule out Indiana’s chances.
Article continues after photo gallery.
A different forecast model by the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska paints a rosier outlook. It predicts the northern lights might be viewable low on the horizon as far south as Louisville.
Space weather, of course, is notoriously difficult to predict. Hoosiers might step outside late Monday night to find beautiful auroras of purple, pink and green, or they might gaze up and see diddly squat. Here’s what stargazing Hoosiers should know.
What states could see the auroras tonight, Dec. 8, 2025?
At least ten U.S. states have a chance to see the northern lights directly overhead on Monday, Dec. 8, according to NOAA’s aurora forecast map. They include:
- Alaska;
- Washington;
- Idaho;
- Montana;
- Wyoming;
- North Dakota;
- South Dakota;
- Minnesota;
- Wisconsin;
- Michigan.
When are the northern lights tonight, Dec. 8, 2025? What time?
Auroras could be visible in more states than those listed above, according to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute website, which tracks the phenomenon.
Beginning at 10 p.m. ET, Monday, Dec. 8, until 1 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9, the institute predicts high aurora activity will be seen in cities that include:
- Vancouver, British Columbia;
- Helena, Montana;
- Minneapolis, Minnesota;
- Toronto, Ontario;
- Montpelier, Vermont.
According to its map of aurora activity, the institute shows the northern lights could also appear low on the horizon on Dec. 8 as far south as Indianapolis, including cities in these other U.S. states:
- Iowa;
- Illinois;
- Indiana;
- Kentucky;
- Ohio;
- Pennsylvania;
- New York;
- Maine and across New England.
What’s Central Indiana’s weather forecast? Will auroras be visible?
Seeing the auroras as far south of Indianapolis, of course, depends on if the weather cooperates.
Skies Monday, Dec. 8, will be partly cloudy in Central Indiana, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. The low is expected to be around 22 with light and variable winds around 5-7 mph, so be sure to wear warm clothing if you plan to stay outside for some late night sky watching.
Why is space weather hard to predict?
When a solar storm happens, it sends particles flowing from the sun that get caught up in Earth’s magnetic field, causing colorful auroras to form as they interact with molecules of atmospheric gases.
Experts have long struggled to accurately forecast exactly when and where the phenomenon will occur. Even the best predictions can only accurately be made a few days or even hours in advance.
Unlike terrestrial weather, scientists who forecast celestial events like the aurora rely on observations of the 93-million-miles-away sun to make their predictions.
When is the best time to see the northern lights?
If the weather is clear, the best auroras are usually visible within an hour or two of midnight, according to NOAA. The best way to see the northern lights is to get away from any cities and travel to dark locations free of light pollution.
The agency also maintains an aurora dashboard that should help skywatchers track the phenomenon.
Where to see auroras in Indiana
In an earlier interview with IndyStar, Dr. Aarran Shaw, who serves as director of Holcomb Observatory and teaches Physics and Astronomy at Butler University, said the further north in Indiana you travel, the better the odds you have of spotting auroras, and near Gary, close to Indiana Dunes State Park, is usually ideal for stargazing.
“I believe Beverly Shores, close to Gary, is an International Dark Sky location which would be a prime spot for viewing the Aurora,” Shaw said. “Similarly, I believe there is another dark sky location just northeast of South Bend, just across the Michigan border.
Need help finding stars, planets and constellations? Try these free astronomy apps
The following free astronomy apps can help you locate stars, planets, and constellations.
Indiana’s best places to stargaze
If possible, head to Beverly Shores, near Gary, which is an International Dark Sky location and therefore an excellent place for stargazing.
You can also travel to Kemil Beach at Indiana Dunes State Park and Dr. T.K. Lawless County Park in Michigan, which also are designated dark sky locations, according to DarkSky International.
John Tufts covers trending news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com. Find him on BlueSky at JohnWritesStuff.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man is dead after a shooting Thursday night on Indy’s near east side, police say.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, just after 8 p.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of East Washington Street on a report of a person shot.
When officers arrived, they found an adult male inside an apartment with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services transported the man to a hospital in critical condition, where died shortly after arriving.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene to begin the investigation.
Crime Resources
Gov. Mike Braun asked state regulators to reconsider their decision to greenlight a $71 million rate increase for AES Indiana, doubling down on his condemnation of a move that could leave Indianapolis residents with higher electrical bills for years.
Braun wrote in a June 18 news release that he had asked Indiana Utility Counselor Abby Gray, who heads the office representing ratepayers in proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, to petition for a rehearing of the AES rate case.
Gray indicated in the release that her office would submit the petition shortly. No petition had been posted on the IURC’s online docket as of this story’s publication.
The rate increase, which was approved by the IURC on June 17, was substantially less than the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It was also less than the amount proposed in a settlement last October between AES and major electricity consumers.
But the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, which Gray leads, came out strongly against any increase to AES’s base rates. In September, the OUCC called for a $21 million reduction instead.
As the Republican Party grapples with rising discontent over affordability, Braun has used opposition to rising utility rates to telegraph that he’s committed to keeping costs down for Indiana residents. He signed a law in February that allows the state to make rate-setting decisions that reward or penalize utilities based on metrics including affordability.
In March, he told reporters that he would take on Indiana’s five investor-owned utilities, describing himself as the “new sheriff in town.”
And after the IURC voted 3-1 to approve the AES rate increase, he wrote in a post to X that he was “deeply disappointed.”
Braun wrote in the June 18 news release that he had appointed Gray, a longtime OUCC lawyer and judge, to her current post because he knew she “would help me fight for Hoosiers.”
According to AES’s estimates, the rate increase will cost households an additional $5 per month for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity they use, beginning in July. A second hike will take effect in January.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
The Protect College Sports Act, legislation meant to introduce and codify sweeping reforms related to college athletics, passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday morning.
It now heads to the Senate floor.
The bill passed out of committee by a 19-9 vote. Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young voted no, his decision reflecting Big Ten concerns over the bill.
A spokesman for Sen. Young told IndyStar, “Senator Young hopes that additional changes can be made to the bill to address concerns raised by the Big Ten.”
Co-sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the Protect College Sports Act represents Congress’ most substantial success so far in a yearslong effort to bring legislative reform to college athletics. Since before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders in college sports — including the NCAA, member conferences and schools, and other major players — have lobbied for national solutions to what have become state and regional problems.
Several pieces of legislation have been introduced across the last several years, only to fizzle long before reaching the floor of either chamber. The SCORE Act, introduced last year in the House of Representatives, gained some traction and passed out of committee, but was never brought to the floor.
Which makes Thursday’s news meaningful. Moving the Protect College Sports Act to the Senate floor, while not a guarantee of any outcome, potentially takes the bill past a threshold no other such piece of reformative legislation has yet been able to cross.
Cruz told Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Thursday that Cruz believes Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is committed to introducing the bill to the Senate floor soon.
The bill provides a legal framework for a host of potential reforms and protections for college sports. It grants limited antitrust protection to the NCAA, places limits on certain things including potential conference realignment, builds safeguards meant to protect non-revenue and Olympic sports, addresses potential broadcast rights reforms, and more.
It enjoys significant backing, and not just among leaders in college sports. This week, the NFL, its players’ association, the National Basketball Players Association and Major League Baseball all voiced their support for the bill.
Two key constituencies not in lockstep on the bill voiced their own concerns Thursday.
In a joint statement issued just after 10 a.m. Thursday, the Big Ten and SEC — far and away the two most powerful conferences and arguably two greatest power centers, full stop, in college athletics — suggested they still hold significant reservations over the bill.
“From the outset, we identified a set of essential revisions to the PCSA necessary for the long-term sustainability of college athletics,” the statement read. “We have worked with both majority and minority staff to advance those revisions, which focus on better supporting student-athletes and stabilizing the college sports environment. We continue to believe revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.
“Despite our sustained engagement and good faith efforts, these critical revisions have not been accepted.”
The statement went on to note the “several Commerce Committee members that share our concerns and support these recommendations.”
Young is one of several members of the committee representing a Big Ten state, including one of three Republicans. He is the only Republican member of the committee whose state contains multiple schools in the conference.
Allowing for those reservations, Thursday’s news is still significant. It marks the first time a bipartisan bill on the subject has reached this point in the Senate and, should it be brought to the floor, it would be the first such legislation to reach that stage, in either chamber.
The bill could be brought to the Senate floor as early as July, though that timeline remains fluid.
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