Could northern lights make a return to central New York soon?
SYRACUSE, NY (WSYR-TV) – After a vivid show of northern lights for most of North American earlier in May, another round could be in store by the end of this week.
When should we be watching for northern lights?
Friday night is when a coronal mass ejection (or CME) reaches earth, and the colorful northern lights show can occur. Given the sun is going down after 8:30 pm, you’ll probably have to wait until midnight or later for the sky to get dark enough.
We will caution, however, that this is just a forecast and trying to do that for northern lights can sometimes be tougher than forecasting the weather! Still, the chance for northern lights is greater Friday night in New York than at any point over the last two weeks.
Do we have to worry about clouds again this time?
No, skies Friday night are expected to be clear and the air over us is very dry so we won’t be fighting any haze in the sky. During the middle of May, central New York missed out on one of the best northern lights shows in decades because of a heavy overcast.
On top of that, we are getting closer to a new moon, so moonlight won’t make viewing more difficult.
Will they be spectacular this time?
Probably not but we’ll see. This CME is nowhere near as strong as the one earlier this month but even a weaker show of northern lights is worth viewing if you get away from city lights.
What are the ‘northern lights’ and why do they occur
Bursts of energy are emitted from the sun in what is called a ‘coronal mass ejection,’ or CME. This solar energy travels through space then reacts with the Earth’s outer atmosphere. Electrons and protons in this part of the atmosphere become ‘excited,’ resulting in the colors that make up the northern lights in the sky.
CMEs typically come from areas on the sun that have clusters of sunspots. Right now, the same cluster of sunspots that caused the mid-May northern lights has rotated all the way around the sun and is back facing the earth.
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