The Northeast could be in for a treat Saturday night with a rare appearance of the northern lights, according to NOAA. They are expected to be seen as far south as New York City.
The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as ‘Aurora borealis’ in the north and ‘Aurora australis’ in the south..
Auroral displays appear in many colors although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.
They are expected to be visible in New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
