Northern lights kick off active weekend in N.B. night skies

New Brunswickers were treated to a brilliant show Thursday night and all from the comfort of their dooryards.

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, lit up the skies over the province.

The spectacle was because of a particularly strong solar storm.

"The sun goes through an 11-year cycle," said Chris Curwin, an amateur astronomer from Saint John.

"Right now we've got a lot of sunspots happening because we're coming up to what we call solar maximum."

Curwin said this particular sunspot was "directly facing us and it let the material go two days ago. So it took two days for it to arrive here."

WATCH | From Nackawic to Moncton, see the northern lights:

New Brunswick lights up under the aurora borealis

2 months ago

Duration 1:01

Photos submitted from around the province showcase the rare spectacle of lights dancing across the New Brunswick sky Thursday night.

The storm was so powerful that it was even able to blast through light pollution.

While you can't often see them from urban areas, Curwin said there was no issue viewing the northern lights this time around, even though darker is always better.

"It was such a powerful storm that people in Saint John and even, like, in the Irving Nature Park, or looking over the city — even in east Saint John — they were getting great displays," said Curwin.

Slim 2nd chances

While Thursday evening was the best time to view the lights, there is still a chance for people who missed out the first time.

Some lights are still possible throughout the province Friday evening, and extreme northern areas of the province could theoretically see some lights on Saturday evening, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But Curwin said the chance of seeing them isn't amazing and diminishes the further south you go, but your cellphone camera may help you out.

"What you'll see with your eyeballs is not quite what the phone will see. The phone will always see a lot more," he said. 

Tiny viewers

Four-year-old Max was watching from his downtown neighbourhood in Fredericton.

He had one word for the sight: "Weird."

"The sky's not usually like this," he said. "What's happening!"

As for feelings the wonder can bring out, Fredericton's Diego just said the lights made him feel happy.

"It's my first time seeing it," said the young man.

Comet

It's not just the northern lights that could give skygazers a show.

The comet C/2023 A3. also known as Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, is scheduled to be visible in the northern hemisphere starting Saturday.

It passed by Earth earlier this year on its way around the sun but was only visible from the southern hemisphere.

I'll be in the sky for several days, but will dim as it moves further away from Earth.

Curwin said to see the comet, look to the southwestern sky in the hour after sunset, where at its peak the comet will be "brighter than the North Star by several times."

This is the first time the comet has been in our neck of the woods for 80,000 years.

"The Neanderthals were here, I guess, last time," said Curwin. 

"I would say we're not going to be here for the next."