I ask becuase I’ve never seen one. I live at the latitude of Boston, MA, and according to what I read, there should be 5-25 of these annually (at my latitude). I also understand that the sun has been fairly quiet lately (solar flares trigger auroral displays).
So what are my chances? Will i have to travel to Alaska or Canada to see this? People tell me that auroras can be breathtaking…and I want to see one.
Also, what about “noctilucent clouds”-where can they best be seen? The only photograph I remember of these, is the one shot in Hammarfest(Norway)-showing the sky lit up,long past sunset. Do you also have to go to the artic regions to see these?
Seems to be a fairly good information site here on the aurora borealis. Check the FAQs for location and sighting info.
I’ve been very fortunate to see the southern lights from my latitude once. An awesome, silent spectacle, even with the light pollution of Auckland.
I see them all the time up here in da U.P. of Michigan.
It’s kinda creepy sometimes - I do a lot of astronomy, and I’ll be outside totally focused on the view in my eyepiece at 1AM.
I start to feel like the sky ain’t quite as black as it should be - like some high haze moved in while I was looking at this globular cluster.
I take a second to step back from the scope and pan the sky.
WHOA - what the…! It’s like this big glowing monster has slowly moved in while I wasn’t looking! The longer I stare at it, the more movement and color variation I start to see. Mostly pale shades of shimmering green and blue. It slowly gets brighter, even to the point where the astronomy is now a waste of time 'cause the sky is now all washed out and I can’t see the dim stuff anymore.
I get a lawn chair, crack a cold beer, and sit back and watch the show for the next half hour.
Sometimes it’s a 2-beer show. 
Here in York, England, I saw the Aurora once. Very impressive, especially the green colour, although there was red, and a greyish colour that is officially described as violet. I am north of Boston, however, and even then we don’t get many good displays.
Noctilucent clouds- we had them once, as well, after sunset, the sky turned to scarlet-tinged mother of pearl.
To my regret, I only glanced at this phenomenon, then went back to work… everyone else who saw it was really impressed.
But they can happen anywhere, at anytime, as far as I know.
I live in Boston as well, and I’ve never seen them here. However, my parents live in Hanover, NH (about 2 hours north) and I’ve seen them while driving to their house along I-89.
Last summer I was camping in northern Minnesota and saw the strongest display I’ve ever seen, (I’ve seen A.B. nearly 100 times, I never get bored of them). The weatherman the next night said that they had been seen as far south as Houston. I think the light polution of Boston hurt your chances. I tend to see them more in Fall. Spring is a close second, the summer ones are often weak. So bundle up and get outside, and crane your neck.
I see them occasionally here in southern Maine… Got the whole family out of bed at 2 AM for the show a few years back.
I grew up in Boston and never saw them either, although I did see some really pale northern lights once in Wisconsin and once in Canada. But the most spectacular show I ever saw was from all the way down here in Nashville about a year and a half ago. The whole northern sky lit up red, like the horizon was on fire. It was awesome.
Here just south of Boston I have seen them, the problem is they are low in the north sky this far south and get lost in the light pollution. I have also seen them in New Hampshire, they seem much brighter, but then so do the stars. My daughter (age15) commented not long ago that she never understood the term “midnight blue” she thought the sky was supposed to be pinkish yellow.
Saw a nice display from Kent, England about 10 years back. There were green and red curtains and a real nice corona effort around the zenith. Freaky.
Also saw a good display only last year from Wiltshire, England but that was exclusively RED, looked like the sky was on fire. Great stuff.
Noctilucent clouds are something totally different. Mainly seen around mid-summer after midnight if you look to the northern horizon (in the northern hemisphere of course). Looks like mother of pearl. I’ve taken some great pics of NLC, even sell a few for publication.
I’m in Mass., currently north of Boston, and even though I keep my eyes open for auroras, I only see them infrequently. (Where I live now doesn’t have a particularly light-free or unobstructed northern horizon.) Most recent was last autumn, when the sky got red for 10 or 15 minutes. You can up your chances somewhat by keeping an eye on the various aurora warning web sites (e.g. spaceweather.com).
In Autumn 2001, there must have been a very large solar flare. An aurora was visible as far south as Washington, DC…and maybe even further. At my location, I observed a pinkish “sheet” in the NW. Soon thereafter, a white fog or low clouds appeared to be rolling in. However, I soon recognized the white cloud was taking on a semi-circular shape with green spikes (like rays from the sun) protruding from it. For those not as familiar with auroras, white (or colorless) is just as common as the colors, but less dramatic as a sighting. Recognizing the semi-circular shape from text books, and then the appearnace of the green rays…it was clear this was no cloud or fog bank! Well, it was very exiciting…a first sighting for me, and quite a show!
My Mom is originally from northern Nova Scotia. She’d tell me about what a common (and beautiful) sight the auroras were to see where she grew up…being so far north. It took half my life to finally see one, but Mom was no longer around with whom to share the news.
It is worth mentioning that, on rare occasion, sightings of the Aurora Borealis have even been recorded in Texas. I came across this fact mentioned in various astronomy books, but it would take some effort to go back and cite a reference. Anyhow,
for those in the Northern cities like Boston…head away from the light pollution to improve your odds of seeing the Aurora Borealis.
Happy Viewing!
- Jinx
Of course here in Scandinavia you get to see aurora borealis at least once in five or six nights almost guaranteed, depending on the latitude. If you’re out of city or other light pollution area, they can be really impressive. I can often stay out half an hour watching them in all colours. Naturally there’s rarely any showing at summer when it never gets dark enough, but at cold winter nights they’re really spectacular.
We had a very active display about three weeks ago. Green and blue “curtains” undulating across the sky. About 18 months ago, we had a very rare red aurora, the whole sky was brilliant red. Very cool! I am at about 60 degrees north, so it is not unusual.
I’ve seen AB’s in Wyoming quite a few times. Near the Wyo/Neb/SD corners there was a summer where it seemed like there was one a week. They were huge green curtains that went far over your head. Even looking to the south there were bright red blobs suddenly appearing and disappearing. The shows could last up to four hours or so and since there is virtually no light pollution the colors were very vivid.
And while I have never seen this for myself, I have friends tell me that if you go up to Medicine Bow Peak near Laramie during the summer you can see them nearly every night. Since the altitude is between 10,500 and 11,000, it doesn’t seem too unbelievable. Maybe just a little.
I lived in Juneau for a year in 1989-1990 (roughly the same latitude as Fear Itself) and saw the most amazing display of aurora borealis. It wasn’t just sheets, it was blobs and lines, expanding and contracting and shimmering. A hell of a show.
I don’t remember seeing any in St. Petersburg, though, which is odd.
Once in Iowa in…1987, I think. It was kind of faint but clear and really exciting.
I live in Baltimore, and i saw it on the night that Jinx talked about. I was watching the news and the weather guy came on and said that the aurora was visible here in Baltimore, so a friend and i went out onto the roof. Sure enough, the sky to the north was tinged with green and was sort of shimmering.
I must say that it wasn’t the most stunning sight. A combination of bright city lights all around, and the fact that the aurora gets weaker as it gets further south, meant that it was nowhere near as impressive as it must be in the far north.