When to see northern lights, meteor showers this winter in NY

On November 27, 2024By Littum

The winter sky will feature some large meteor showers and possibly another sighting of the northern lights, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials.

The Northern Lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are a dazzling display of red and green hues created when a severe geomagnetic storm erupts from the sun.

The Northern Lights were visible in the region and across New York State and beyond in October.

Shawn Dahl, a service coordinator with NOAA, said the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights over the continental United States remains high as we are now in what is known as the solar maximum of solar cycle 25.

“What this means is that we expect to have additional solar storms known as geomagnetic storms that could lead to aurora manifestation at lower latitudes than normal,” Dahl said.

“This escalated period of solar activity is likely to continue through the year 2025 and perhaps even into early 2026,” Dahl added. “Due to solar maximum, additional associated and related solar storm chances will be elevated for solar flares, sunspot groups and more.”

Meteor showers may be visible in December

An avid amateur and backyard astronomer and enthusiast, Dahl said another highlight of the winter sky will be meteor showers.

Although it is possible to see a random meteor on any given night, there are several times during the year when large numbers of them appear together in groups known as showers, which occur when Earth passes through streams of cosmic debris.

Dahl said a large shower, called the Geminids because they appear to focus around the constellation Gemini (the Twins), will peak around the 13th-14th. December.

“The Geminids can often reach close to 100 meteors per hour at peak times,” Dahl said. “Many are dim, but often there are plenty bright enough to see visually under the darkest and most favorable conditions”

Why early January could be the best time to see meteor showers

Another meteor shower, the Quadrantids, will peak on the night of January 2-3. A crescent moon will set before they reach their peak that night, providing a darker sky for better viewing.

They have the potential to be the heaviest showers of the year, but usually fall short because their peak period is only six hours long and weather conditions in early January are often poor, according to the American Meteor Society.

Dahl said the winter sky also has some “very interesting and amazing constellations,” including Orion, a hunter from Greek mythology, who has a distinctive belt of three stars, two bright stars and what Dahl calls a “wonderful nebula.”

It is prominent in the southern sky, as is the constellation Taurus the Bull, which includes a star cluster known as the Pleiades that forms the tip of one of its horns.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Contact him at [email protected].