The Northern Lights are once again visible in the night sky, but not where you’d think. The natural phenomenon has appeared in North and South Dakota.
The astronomical sight known as the Northern Lights or aurora has been sighted by North and South Dakota residents this week. The colorful lights are created when the earth’s atmosphere is hit by charged particles from the sun. George Gladfelter is the president of the Black Hills Astronomical Society. He says it’s somewhat unusual to see the lights this far south.
“So it’s very common to see the Northern Lights farther north up in Northern Canada for instance, and not so usual here in South Dakota and the Rapid City area. But it does happen and when things get truly spectacularly intense like once every few hundred years. There have been Northern Lights visible spectacularly as far south as Havana Cuba and Central America,” says Gladfelter.
Gladfelter says there is a chance that the lights are visible in the coming months. However, it’s not likely that they will appear on a nightly basis.