Why New England could see more of the Northern Lights — including this weekend

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It’s Friday — and we have big news about the dockworkers strike, electric bills and everyone’s favorite local celebrity beaver.

But first…

Look up! If you missed seeing the Northern Lights this past May, you might soon have another chance. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the solar show, which is caused by interaction between solar flares and the Earth’s magnetic field, may be visible in Massachusetts this weekend — maybe even tonight, if clouds cooperate. (The flare from Thursday that caused the coming aurora — a X9.0 flare — was even stronger than the X8.7 flare in May.) UMass Lowell space and planetary physics professor Ofer Cohen says there’s a chance it’ll be visible as far south as the Boston area. Even if they aren’t pushed all the way to such low latitudes, those with a clear view north may be able to see them. “Look in the direction of New Hampshire [or] Canada,” Cohen told WBUR’s Amy Sokolow.

• Another pro tip: Cohen suggests getting away from city lights and looking north starting around 9 p.m. He also suggests taking a picture with your phone camera if you can’t see it with the naked eye. “The phone camera is more sensitive to the particular wavelength that the aurora operates in,” he said.
• Why has this been happening so often? Cohen says we’re currently near the peak of “solar maximum,” which is as cool as it sounds. It’s a period in an 11-year cycle when the sun is most active. And NOAA predicts the chances to see the Northern Lights this fall and next year are particularly great since Solar Cycle 25 is expected to reach its peak starting this November through March 2026.
• You’ve heard of storm trackers. But did you know there’s an aurora tracker, too? You can keep track of NOAA’s visibility predictions for today and tomorrow here.

Spooky season: Salem is preparing for a wave of visitors, as we approach the first weekend of October. Just like last year, officials are advising people to plan ahead — and consider public transit. “If you don’t have a plan for how you’re going to get here, you’re going to have a hard time finding parking,” Salem Mayor Dominic Pangallo told WBUR’s Sydney Ko. “We have 65,000 to 100,000 people on average visiting Salem on a weekend day, and we only have 4, 000 parking spaces. So, you can do the math.”

• By train: The commuter rail is running several extra trains on Saturdays and Sundays all October — and adding additional coach cars to those trains. (All-access weekend passes are $10.)
• By sea: There’ll also be increased service on the Boston-to-Salem ferry — plus a new Hingham-to-Salem ferry later this month.
• Remember: Be respectful to the people who live in Salem all 12 months of the year. “The city is not a theme park or a movie set. It’s our home,” Pangallo said. (The movie set is over in Ipswich.)

A Noble choice: Gov. Maura Healey will swear in the new head of the Massachusetts State Police later this morning. Geoffrey Noble will take over the role — which has been vacant for 18 months — after spending 27 years with the New Jersey State Police. (He retired in 2022 and has since been working for a private security firm.)

• Noble arrives at an agency dealing with several internal issues — including, most recently, an investigation into last month’s death of a state police recruit after a training exercise.

The T giveth: Normal service (finally) resumed on the Green Line Extension yesterday morning, following Tuesday’s derailment. Federal investigators say they should have a preliminary report on what exactly caused the crash within 30 days.

• The T taketh away: Those shuttles are going right back into service tonight, this time replacing the Mattapan Trolley. Trolley service between Ashmont and Mattapan will be suspended from 8:30 p.m. through Sunday night for track maintenance work.
• Psst: The Sumner Tunnel will also be closed again this weekend.

Back at it: The Celtics — and “Hot Ones” survivor Jaylen Brown — begin the preseason overseas in Abu Dhabi today at noon (ET). They’ll play the Denver Nuggets twice in the UAE, before returning to the TD Garden next weekend.

P.S.— What did Healey stop the National Guard from doing? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of this week’s stories.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.