What a treat! An upcoming solar storm could bring the Northern Lights to Philadelphia and 16 other stations this week. A solar storm on Thursday, July 13, is expected to make the Northern Lights visible in 17 states. The best viewing times of the Northern Lights on Thursday are currently between 10 PM and 2 AM local time.
An aurora, also commonly known as polar lights, northern lights, or southern lights, is a natural light display in Earth’s sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of brilliant lights that appear as curtains, rays, spirals, or dynamic flickers covering the entire sky.
I was very fortunate to see the Northern Lights when I went to Iceland a few years ago. I went with a few friends over Labor Day and it was the most incredible experience. It’s hard to explain how crisp the air is in Iceland. How pure the lighting is. It was funny having to pack to a winter coat at the end of August but it was worth it. We got picked up at the hotel around 9p, because it doesn’t get dark in Iceland until almost 10p in the summer. We drove out to the middle of nowhere and waited. Our guides do this for a living so they knew if we had a chance to see the northern lights or if we had to move. We did move in our minivan two different times until we actually saw them. Unfortunately, they were as bright as you see on Instagram, but we did still see the dancing green ribbons in the sky and it was incredible!
The different colored lights are “caused by collisions between electrically charged particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind that enter Earth’s atmosphere and collide with molecules and atoms of gas, primarily oxygen and nitrogen,” according to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
There are two states that aren’t that far from Philly where you might be able to see the Northern Lights!
