The Northern Lights could be visible again in Massachusetts. View the aurora forecast map.

BOSTON – There is a possibility that Northern lights could appear over Massachusetts this evening, and the Aurora Borealis forecast says the chance of seeing the colorful display remains in New England over the next few nights.

The region was treated a unique northern lights display already in May. And in recent days there have been several coronal mass ejections from the Sun's surface.

Two of these “CMEs” ejected from Sunspot AR3842, a large hole in the lower center of the Sun. These ejections occurred when the active sunspot was pointed directly at Earth.

Northern lights possible over Massachusetts

Therefore, we are now “on alert” for potential geomagnetic storm and possible northern lights in the next few nights.

Since the Sun is 150 million kilometers away, it takes a few days for the CMEs to reach Earth.

Predicting the speed, size and intensity of these CMEs is extremely difficult, much more difficult than predicting the weather.

Therefore, we cannot know exactly what impact it will have on Earth until it reaches some of our outermost satellites, which are located about a million miles from Earth's surface. This gives us less than an hour to know the exact magnitude and impact of each CME wave.

Normally, scientists can get their first clue (estimate) almost immediately after the explosion on the sun's surface.

The two flares of interest were measured at X7.1 and X9.1, fairly high on the solar flare scale and strong enough to produce mid-latitude auroras.

What causes the Northern Lights?

An aurora borealis occurs when these large and dense solar ejections collide with molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere. Our magnetic field causes most of the particles to be redirected towards our poles, which is why the further north you live, the more typical it is to see the Northern Lights.

During large ejections and strong geomagnetic storms, the lights can be seen further south.

These storms are measured using a “K-index.” If the K-index is 7 or higher, it usually indicates a higher probability of auroras at lower latitudes (including New England). The forecast for the next few nights is currently exactly 7am.

How to see the Northern Lights

If you want to maximize your chances of seeing the Northern Lights, you need to find an area with the least light pollution (dark skies). Also, give yourself as clear a view of the sky as possible without any obstructions. Otherwise good luck. Most of the time, Northern Lights hunting in New England ends in disappointment.

Weather wise, your chances are better on Saturday evening as there will be intermittent clouds on Friday evening.

If you can take a few more pictures this evening we would love to see them. Send them to [email protected]

A word of warning: Most of the images of the Northern Lights you see online and on television are taken with very expensive long exposure cameras. Seeing an aurora with the naked eye probably won't be nearly as vivid or deep in color, but it's still worth the effort.