The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

Conditions were almost right for Aurora Borealis, a natural light display also known as the northern lights, to be visible in Iowa last week.

A light show last May was seen by people across Iowa who aren’t usually able to see the dazzling displays this far south.

A Cedar Rapids resident wondered what causes the northern lights and how often they can be seen from Iowa, so they wrote to Curious Iowa, a Gazette series that answers readers’ questions about our state and how it works, to find the answer.

“We’re kind of lucky ... when things come together and we have a favorable magnetic field and orientation, the northern lights can drive up a little further south here in the United States th

See Full Page