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Opportunity to See the Northern Lights in Upstate New York and Connecticut This Weekend

There’s a chance you can see the Northern Lights in upstate New York and Connecticut this weekend.

A large geomagnetic storm is expected to impact Earth, dipping line of sight across parts of New York state and New England.

Clear skies are expected for the region, meaning we may be able to see the fascinating Northern Lights on Saturday night.

The best chances of seeing them are to find a dark place, away from light pollution, and look north. The best places to observe in New York will be the upper Hudson Valley, in the northern part of Dutchess, Sullivan and Ulster counties. Therefore, it may be necessary to walk a bit to reach an area where the lights will be more visible.

In Connecticut, it will likely be in the east or northwest of the state.

Even if the incredible lights are not visible to the naked eye, there is a chance to capture them with a long exposure camera.

About the aurora borealis

Earlier this week, the sun released a huge amount of energy, known as a Corona Mass Ejection, and when the energy from the charged particles interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere and comes into contact with oxygen and nitrogen, it creates the colors of the northern lights.

How to see the northern lights

These tips are from the Space Weather Prediction Center.

Time: The best aurora usually occurs one to two hours after midnight (between 10 pm and 2 am). These hours of active aurora expand into the evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases. There may be auroras in the evening and morning, but they are usually not as active and therefore not as visually appealing. The best seasons to observe the auroras are around the spring and autumn equinoxes. Due to subtleties in the way the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere, there is a tendency for larger geomagnetic storms and therefore better auroras to occur near the equinoxes. However, the number of hours of darkness increases rapidly near the autumn equinox, so those traveling to see the aurora should keep this warning in mind.

2023-11-11 04:27:24
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