Northern Lights in Maryland: Will you see the night sky glow?

BALTIMORE -- This week, sky gazers in more than a dozen other states, will see the night sky glow—but probably not star-gazers in Maryland.

A solar storm forecast for Thursday is expected to be seen in 17 American states. The Northern Lights are the colorful sky show that happens when solar wind hits the atmosphere.

Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, are most often seen in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia, but an 11-year solar cycle that's expected to peak in 2024 is making the lights visible in places farther to the south. Three months ago, the light displays were visible in Arizona, marking the third severe geomagnetic storm since the current solar cycle began in 2019.

"The chances of seeing an aurora from Maryland are fairly low, I would say they occur maybe once a decade or so," said Christian Ready, an astronomy professor at Towson University.

WJZ News spoke with experts to share how a person might be able to see the light show this week in Maryland.

"Seeing an aurora from Maryland is pretty rare and they only occur during the strongest of storms on the sun, so if the sun is really as active as it appears to be and gets as active as we expect it to, that would be a pretty uncommon occurrence," Ready said.  

The uncommon could be a possibility this week even if the odds of seeing an aurora from Maryland are slim. A person who seeks out a very dark area with little light pollution has the best odds of seeing the Northern Lights, Ready said.

Ready welcomed WJZ into the new planetarium at Towson University to show how the sun emits these unique lights for us to enjoy here on Earth.

"That invisible force field is what's keeping us protected from the sun," Ready said. "When those charged particles overload our magnetic field, they fall along the magnetic field lines toward the magnetic pulse. They create the aurora that you see here from space."

The best chance to see the Northern Lights may be July 12, though.

Some state parks are offering public access after dark for anyone who wants to look for an aurora.   

Cunningham Falls State Park

The Dam Parking lot at William Houck Area is not gated and will be available to visitors, although the view of the horizon isn't ideal.

Gambrill State Park

The North Frederick overlook will remain open with limited parking.

Rocky Gap State Park

Visitors should park in the Amphitheater parking lot.

Tuckahoe State Park

Stargazers should contact the park ahead of time at 410-820-1668 before coming to visit.  The view is the best from behind the park office building, according to the Maryland Park Service. 

Editor's Note: Soldiers Delight will not have public access after dark.