Northern Lights 2025: New opportunity to view dazzling light display in Delaware Valley
Heads up: it's looking like we'll see the Northern Lights across the Philadelphia area Sunday night.
A strong solar storm occurred Friday, presenting the Northeast with another opportunity to see the Northern Lights Sunday night.
PHILADELPHIA - Several times in 2024, the Northern Lights were visible in the region, which is an unusual and rare occurrence for the area. Another opportunity to view the beautiful spectacle is presenting itself Sunday night, scientists say.
What we know
Remember when everyone was seeing the Northern Lights across southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and South Jersey one night last October?
We got to see the Northern Lights so much farther south than usual because of what forecasters called a "G4 (Severe) Geomagnetic Storm."
That strong of a solar storm is pretty rare, and forecasters are calling for another Sunday night.
The backstory
The sun constantly sends charged energy into space. While Earth's magnetic field blocks out most of it, some of it sneaks in around the North and South Pole, leading to the northern and southern lights in those places.
Occasionally, a much bigger blast of charged energy leaves the sun, and that's exactly what happened on Friday. You can see an example of that on X, here.
"Confidence in an Earth-arrival component to this [energy] is good" says the branch of the National Weather Service that focuses on space weather. "However, timing and intensity are more uncertain," they note.
Timeline
Right now, they anticipate 9 to 11 p.m. as the best time for you to see the Northern Lights with your own eyes Sunday night in the Philadelphia area.
If you head outside, but don't see anything, try taking a picture with your cell phone on the night sight setting where it takes five to 10 seconds to capture a picture. Phones can capture the Northern Lights when our eyes cannot. However, Sunday night's anticipated Northern Lights should be strong enough to see when you look up.
What you can do
If you see them, share your picture with Kathy Orr and FOX29. You might see one on air during our weather forecasts.
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