Area residents may get a chance Thursday to take in a rare and colorful night sky event.
The northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, may be visible in Massachusetts due to intensified magnetic and solar activity that will allow those further south than usual to view the phenomena.
The chances of the lights being visible are better in northern New England, though. The display could be visible in states including New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, as well as New York.
Dipankar Maitra, associate professor of astronomy and physics at Wheaton College in Norton, has seen the lights, but not for a while.
“The last time I saw the northern lights was in November 2004, from New Haven (Connecticut),” Maitra said. “The experience was ethereal. That time I couldn’t see any colors (of the aurora) with my unaided eyes, but 30-second long exposures taken with my DSLR camera revealed glorious colors.”
While the college’s observatory is closed for the summer, Maitra has some advice for residents hoping to catch a glimpse of the light display.
“My general suggestion for watching auroral activity is the farther you can get away from light pollution, the better are your chances,” Maitra said.
Besides checking light pollution maps to find the darkest places nearby, the professor recommends seeing the location of the auroral oval at https://spaceweather.com before heading out.
“The northern skies need to be especially clear and dark,” Maitra said. “You don’t need a telescope or binoculars. Just enjoy with your eyes.”
The sight is described as one of the most spectacular you can observe with the naked eye.
However, “having a camera with a wide-angle lens taking long-exposures (around 30 seconds), with the lens fully open, may catch faint activity (and colors) that are invisible to the eye,” Maitra added.
Others recommend finding a location at a high elevation. The lights will be low on the horizon and likely faint.
Usually the northern lights are only visible around the North Pole and the Arctic Circle, in places such as Alaska and northern Canada.
An 11-year solar cycle that’s expected to peak in 2024 is making the lights visible in places farther south.
Northern lights come about when a magnetic solar wind hits the Earth’s magnetic field and causes atoms in the upper atmosphere to glow.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center says the best viewing times are between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time.
The weather of course is a key factor in determining whether the lights will be visible. Around here, clouds are forecast to move in later Thursday night and rain is expected Friday.
