Maine stargazers may be able to see the northern lights again, with another solar storm forecasted to wash over some of the state’s skies this week.

The northern lights are shown earlier this year in West Gardiner. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Adams

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that a moderate solar storm will begin around 8 p.m. Tuesday before peaking at around 2 a.m. Wednesday, giving central and northern Maine another chance at seeing the aurora borealis. Locally, the agency predicted the best viewing would be happening in the Skowhegan area and points north.

This year has been an exceptionally good one for viewing the northern lights, and experts expect the aurora to continue lighting up Maine’s skies through the fall.

Elizabeth Dickerson is a citizen astronomer from Union who has been monitoring the aurora above Maine for nearly 30 years. She says the visibility of this week’s solar storm largely hinges on the weather and the moon.

“The trick is to time things when the moon isn’t up yet or has set, and this time of year when there isn’t much night anyway, it requires a lot of cooperation from the aurora,” Dickerson said. “It may hit when it is still light and when the moon is still super big.”

NOAA forecasts show the southern edge of the aurora cutting across Maine, with Somerset, Aroostook and Piscataquis counties having the best shot at seeing the northern lights.

Solar storms are rated on the “Kp index,” which ranges from dimmer storms farther north at level zero and larger storms at level nine that can reach into the contiguous U.S.

NOAA predicts this week’s solar storm will reach 5.67 kp when it peaks after midnight Tuesday, on par with Maine’s last large solar storm in April. The massive solar storm in May that brought bright pink auroras to most of Maine reached level 9.

Solar storms with an intensity below level seven are often difficult for humans to see with the naked eye, though most cellphones will still be able to photograph the colorful aurora with a long-exposure shot.

Regardless of how strong the solar storm is, viewing this week’s aurora in Maine will depend on how bright the moon is and how many clouds are in the sky, experts say.

Moonrise will begin just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, roughly an hour and a half from the beginning of the solar storm. The moon is currently full and will be 94% illuminated Tuesday night, which Dickerson said could make the aurora difficult to see even with special equipment.

Thunderstorms and cloudy skies may also block the view for parts of Maine on Tuesday night. Lingering storms from earlier in the day may not dissipate until late Wednesday morning, said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.

“We’re looking at some pretty widespread rain and thunderstorms tomorrow that will gradually diminish throughout the remainder of the day. Isolated thunderstorms remain in the forecast through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning,” he said. “So that might put a damper on the view.”

Still, the solar storm this week is part of one of the most active aurora seasons in decades, and experts say this won’t be the last chance to see the northern lights above Maine.

The sun is nearing the height of its “solar cycle,” a roughly decade-long period in which the number and size of sunspots and solar flares naturally ebbs and flows.

Right now, the sun is in “solar maximum,” or the peak of the solar cycle. This year’s solar maximum is among the largest ever recorded, scientists say, with the sun producing the largest recorded solar flares in nearly a decade and giving many parts of the globe an unusual chance to view the northern lights.

Though the full moon and possible cloud cover could spoil the view of the aurora for some this week, scientists predict the northern lights will continue dancing in Maine’s skies throughout the year — whether you can see them or not.

“We have to remember that all of this is happening around us all the time,” Dickerson said. “Yes, right now there are more active sunspots facing us, which happens periodically, but we are also at solar maximum as well — and a particularly active solar maximum.

“Right now, there is a killer light show above your head, you just can’t see it.”