BOSTON – There’s a chance the northern lights could appear over Massachusetts tonight, and the Northern Lights forecast says it’s possible to see the colorful display will continue over the next few nights in New England.

Multiple coronal mass ejections from the Sun’s surface have occurred in recent days.

Two of these “CMEs” shot out of Sunspot AR3842, a large hole in the lower center of the Sun. These ejections occurred when the active sunspot was pointed directly toward Earth.

Northern Lights possible over Massachusetts

Therefore, we are now “on guard” against a potential geomagnetic storm and possible auroras in the coming nights.

Because the sun is 93 million miles away, it takes a few days for the CMEs to reach Earth.

Predicting the speed, magnitude and intensity of these CMEs is extremely difficult, much more difficult than predicting the weather.

Therefore, we can’t really know exactly what impact it will have on Earth until it reaches some of our outermost satellites, which are about a million kilometers from the Earth’s surface. This gives us less than an hour’s worth of insight into the exact size and impact of each CME wave.

Scientists can usually get an initial indication (estimate) almost immediately after the explosion on the Sun’s surface.

The two bursts of interest were measured at X7.1 and X9.1, quite high on the solar flare scale and sufficiently strong to produce mid-latitude auroras.

What causes the Northern Lights?

An aurora borealis is formed when these large and dense solar ejections collide with the molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Our magnetic field ensures that the particles are largely diverted towards our poles, which is why it is so much more common to see the Northern Lights the further north you live.

When we have large outbursts and strong geomagnetic storms, the lights can be seen further south.

These storms are measured on a “K-index.” When the K-index is 7 or higher, it generally indicates a greater chance of auroras at lower latitudes (including New England). The forecast for the coming nights is currently 7am.

How to see the Northern Lights

If you want to maximize your chances of seeing the Northern Lights, you need to find an area with the least amount of light pollution (dark sky). Also give yourself a view of as much open air as possible, without obstacles. Other than that, good luck. More often than not, aurora hunting in New England ends in disappointment.

Weather-wise, chances are better on Saturday night as there will be periods of cloud on Friday night.

Finally, if you can take some pictures tonight, we’d love to see them. Send them to [email protected]

A word of caution: most of the images you see of the Northern Lights online and on TV use very expensive cameras with long shutter speeds. Seeing an Aurora with the naked eye probably won’t be nearly as vibrant or deep in color, but it’s still worth it.