While the leaves are showing their colors down on Earth, vibrant colors are expected to be visible in the skies over part of New England this weekend.
The northern lights are expected to be seen in New England this weekend, as far south as Massachusetts, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.
A pair of strong coronal mass ejections are expected to reach Earth on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, NOAA said in a statement.
"A [coronal mass ejection] is anticipated to reach and impact Earth with elevated geomagnetic response and dependant upon orientation of the embedded magnetic field potential exists for strong storm levels," NOAA added.
The northern lights, known too as the aurora, are the waving lights made of hues of green and purple as the result of the sun, NOAA has stated previously. When a burst of coronal mass ejections from the sun reaches Earth's atmosphere, the electrons colliding fall back down to lower states of energy. This causes the bands of light to be seen in the sky.
For Friday night, a red border in NOAA's prediction map shows that Massachusetts is below that line in being able to see the aurora. That red line shows the southern extent of where the aurora could be seen along the northern horizon. The thick ring of green and red indicates the likelihood one will see the northern lights can be seen above that.
For Saturday, forecasters anticipate Massachusetts to be right on that line.
"The brightness and location of the aurora is typically shown as a green oval centered on Earth's magnetic pole," according to NOAA's website. "The green ovals turn red when the aurora is forecasted to be more intense. Aurora can often be observed somewhere on Earth from just after sunset or just before sunrise. The aurora is not visible during daylight hours. The aurora does not need to be directly overhead but can be observed from as much as 1,000 km away when the aurora is bright and if conditions are right."
Driving out to darker parts of the state, including Wachusett Mountain State Reservation and Kenneth Dubuque Memorial State Forest, should yield vibrant results looking at the skies above.
Between Friday and Saturday, the National Weather Service anticipates cloudier skies Friday night, with clearer skies expected Saturday evening.