EAGLE, Idaho — Normally you'd only be able to see the Northern Lights if you were near the North or South Pole, but Idaho, along with 16 other states, could get a glimpse of this visual phenomenon.
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According to Dr. Irwin Horowitz, former president of the Boise Astronomical Society, between 12:00 am and 4:00 am Friday morning, residents of Idaho may have the chance to see the visual phenomenon known as the Northern Lights.
These lights are often seen closer to the North Pole, like in Canada or Alaska, due to the sun's activity and its outbursts of light and energy.
“A few days ago the sun had one of these outbursts and the particles from the outburst were heading toward the earth in space," says Dr. Horowitz. "It takes those particles a few days to get here which is how we can predict, roughly, when the Aurora will occur.”
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When the particles from the sun head towards Earth's upper atmosphere, they turn into gas atoms. Those atoms absorb energy from the particles and when the atoms give up that energy, they give up light, creating the northern or southern lights.
“You get colors like green, which is from the oxygen, and get the purples and pinks from the nitrogen," says Stephen McNeil, Physics & Astronomy Professor at BYU Idaho. "It's really just the interaction of charged particles from the sun that are causing them.”
If you're in Sandpoint or Coeur d'Alene, you'll have a better chance of seeing the Northern Lights than residents in the Treasure Valley.
However, if you don't want to travel too far and you live in Boise, you could possibly see the lights along Highway 16 heading toward Emmett. The lights will be toward the north horizon, so you want to make sure it's dark and hope for a clear night, and nothing is blocking your view of the horizon.
McNeil says the color won’t seem as bright with your naked eye, but when you snap a picture, you can see more details through the photograph.
“You can see them with your eye. They usually have a greenish glow but, since it's so faint, your eyes can't pick up the other colors," McNeil says. "So people are always surprised that they take pictures of them with their cellphone or camera and it looks so much prettier with a lot more colors. That's because your eye doesn't respond well to low luminosity.”
