courtesy of M. Brchnelova

A Glimpse Through the Clouds: ESWW Participants Seek the Northern Lights

courtesy of J. PalaciosThe ESWW Local Organising Committee (LOC) arranged a dedicated aurora-watching excursion for conference participants on Wednesday evening. Due to limited capacity, only 50 attendees were able to join the organised outing (see the right image, courtesy of Michaela Brchnelova). 

To ensure broader participation, the LOC also shared guidance on alternative observation sites, enabling others to embark on their own aurora-hunting efforts.

Fortune favoured some: several participants reported witnessing a luminous auroral arc directly above the conference centre itself. One such moment was captured by Judit Palacios (see the photograph on the left).

According to the aurora forecast presented on Monday during the Live Forecast session by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Wednesday evening offered the best potential for aurora visibility. Nonetheless, terrestrial weather conditions proved challenging, with extensive cloud cover obstructing much of the display even from optimal viewing locations. Despite these limitations, attendees managed to capture glimpses of the spectacle, creating lasting visual memories of both the event and its remarkable setting (see a few images below).

courtesy of R. Pinto

courtesy of A. Castillo Tibocha

courtesy of A. Castillo Tibocha

E-SWAN medal ceremony at ESWW 2025

This year, the E-SWAN Medal Committee chose to present a single award—the Alexander Chizhevsky Medal for Outstanding Achievement by an Early-Career Scientist.

The ceremony was held in the amphitheatre of the Umeå Folkets Hus conference centre, attended by a select group of participants. The 2025 Chizhevsky Medal was awarded to Erika Palmeiro of Predictive Science Inc., United States, in recognition of her exceptional contributions to the field of space weather and space climate through innovative and impactful research.

Live Space Weather forecast

Over the four days of the conference, each plenary session is followed by a presentation from one of Europe’s established space weather forecast centres, offering the Daily Forecast. The initiative is designed to give participants a closer look at the forecasting process and to illustrate how space weather affects end-users in practice. It also encourages reflection within the community on how to better communicate complex scientific information to operational sectors and the public.

The Live Space Weather Forecast series opened on Monday, October 27, with a presentation by Tiera Laitinen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), who delivered this week’s aurora forecast. Laitinen began by outlining current solar conditions, noting solar wind speeds of around 400 km/s and a magnetic field strength of 5 nT—figures he described as “extraordinarily ordinary.” With Umeå located just below the auroral oval, these low values are insufficient to generate visible auroras locally. He also provided an overview of the Sun’s conditions in the EUV 193 A wavelength.

According to Laitinen, auroral activity is expected between Tuesday and Wednesday night, triggered by a high-speed solar wind stream emanating from a coronal hole (CH-HSS). A second opportunity for aurora viewing may occur from Wednesday to Thursday night as the CH-HSS continues, with a weaker chance extending into Thursday night. However, by the final night of the conference, the solar stream’s influence is expected to diminish. Laitinen also reminded the audience not to overlook “the tropospheric weather,” noting that cloud cover could still determine whether the aurora can be seen.

The opening of the conference European Space Weather Week 2025