Northern lights make memories, "I've never seen anything like it"

BOXFORD - Who needs to trek up north to Iceland or Canada when are the northern lights are stunning skies right here in our New England backyard?

The marvel of magenta, green and purple lights painted the New England heavens Thursday night. Aurora borealis erupted over clear skies.

In the darkness of Boxford Common is where we found Jim Holland, President of the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club-telescope in tow-scanning the skies to catch a glimpse of the splendor.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Holland. "Nature is an incredible thing when you see something like this it gives you a lot of perspective."

Photos: Northern lights over Massachusetts

Those who looked up were left speechless, like 11-year-old Dylan Griebel.

"I've actually like never seen this! For all these 11 years I've been on this planet I'm like, I've not seen and now I'm like, its- I have no words for it," said Dylan.

Severe solar storm this week

The credit for Thursday's northern lights goes to a severe solar storm firing off this week.

"This is one of the best years I can ever remember for aurora activity," said WBZ Executive Weather Producer Terry Eliasen. He explains that over the last several months, the sun has been incredibly active, unleashing material from the sun's surface, interacting with the atmosphere.

The last light show was in May.

"The solar activity goes in 11-year cycles and right now we're at the peak of one of those cycles. So, over the last several months or even a few weeks, there's been a lot of coronal mass ejection," said Eliasen.

And it turned out to be a night for the history books.

"I think the last one I saw was 25-30 years ago," said John Mitchell in the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club. "It's my passion."
"A lot of stuff happens up there in space; it's really great to have your head up, look up in the sky and have some fun," added Holland.