Did you see the northern lights across North Texas on Tuesday night? The rare sight brought a colorful display of hues that are not often seen in our night sky.
McKenna Dowd with UT Arlington’s Planetarium spends her day explaining things like the northern lights to students.
“The northern lights is when energy from the sun interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere, creating a color show in our night sky,” said Dowd.
Seeing the lights in the southern United States is a rare sight.
Jerry H
Jerry H
The northern lights over Cleburne, Texas, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
“It takes a very strong magnetic storm for it to be seen,” said UTA Planetarium Director Levent Gurdemir.
How bright and how far south the northern lights will be visible is hard to predict.
“Those are very difficult to forecast, almost impossible to forecast,” Gurdemir said.
Experts said it depends on when the solar bursts arrive and how they interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, but with another chance on Wednesday, Dowd said it’s worth going outside and looking up.
“Any sort of celestial event is incredible because we all share the night sky,” Dowd said.
Dowd suggests getting away from city lights and using your camera. It can pick up the lights better than the naked eye.
And this is why I always book a window seat! Flying back to DFW tonight I was dazzled by the aurora borealis from 35,000 feet! 😍 ✈️ pic.twitter.com/xZgLknNCpM
— Adrienne Vonn (@adrienne_nbc5) November 12, 2025