Here's When You Could See The Northern Lights In New Jersey

NEW JERSEY — Instead of traveling thousands of miles to Iceland or up north, you may have a chance to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights this week in New Jersey.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Geomagnetic Storm Watch from Wednesday through Friday night.

The best time to see the lights is expected to be Thursday night, according to the center. But if you see it at all in New Jersey, it may be no more than a faint glow of colors in the northern areas.

Chad Shafer, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the chances of seeing the northern lights in New Jersey will be relatively small, but possible, saying the weather is expected to be clear before 7 p.m.

Northern/Southern Lights displays are caused by high-speed solar wind streams that carry gas particles flowing away from the sun, according to the center.

They're flowing south to the point that they could be in the atmosphere over New Jersey and neighboring states, according to nj.com.

Geomagnetic Storm Watches are in effect this week due to the sun releasing a CME (Coronal-Mass Ejection) that is heading quickly for Earth, according to the center.

The science behind the northern lights is a bit complicated — all you really need to know is that they are jaw-dropping beautiful. Basically, they become visible to the human eyes when electrons from solar storms collide with the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere.

In normal circumstances, the Earth's magnetic field guides the electrons in such a way that the aurora forms two ovals approximately centered at the magnetic poles. But during geomagnetic storms, the ovals expand away from the poles and give some lucky people in the United States a sky show they'll never forget.

Most often, the auroras appear as tall rays that look like a colorful curtain made of folds of cloth, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.

"During the evening, these rays form arcs that stretch from horizon to horizon," the agency said on a website. "Late in the evening, near midnight, the arcs often begin to twist and sway, just as if a wind were blowing on the curtains of light. At some point, the arcs may expand to fill the whole sky, moving rapidly and becoming very bright. This is the peak of what is called an auroral substorm."

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