August 19, 2022 Update:
For Central Jersey the viewing the Aurora Borealis was a bust the K-Index went down to 4 and the Aurora Forecast Map showed that it stayed mostly in Canada and some northern most states such as New Hampshire, Vermont, NY, could possibly see it according to the forecast map.
The Aurora Borealis Northern Lights were a no show in Central NJ. After some enhancement of the image file some color could be seen in the area under the big dipper, but it is hard to tell if it was related to the Aurora Borealis. This image was taken August 18, 2022 at 11:54 p.m.
Image taken August 19, 2022 at 12:00 a.m. looking north towards the big dipper.
Many are predicting that the Aurora Borealis also known as the Northern Lights could possibly be seen tonight August 18, 2022 as far south as North Jersey. Unfortunately, most of New Jersey’s sky is littered with light pollution making it harder to see since you need dark sky to see the Auroa clearly. See this light pollution map from lightpolutionmap.info
Locally, if you want to see the lights head up to areas North of Lambertville with a clear sky to the north with less light pollution. If you stay in NJ to try and capture the lights, try the Delaware Water Gap area that has less light pollution.
See article from Space.com Northern lights (aurora borealis): What they are & how to see them
Keep checking the SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER and check the Aurora Forecast map and when the green is overhead there is a good chance of seeing the Aurora. Check the Estimated Planetary K-INDEX and with a K-Index of 7 for NY Catskills, North Jersey and higher for southern areas you may have a chance to see the Aurora.
The Space Weather Prediction Center shows the K-Index at four currently and was higher during the day reaching five and most likely an aurora would not be seen this far south. Yesterday the K-Index was at six and most people reported not seeing an aurora in PA or NJ.
If the Aurora Forecast Map is green overhead and the K-Index is high enough head out and see if you can see the lights. For New Jersey the past several chances have been a bust so don’t be disappointed if it does not happen for us.
Aurora Borealis – Northern Lights captured in Stowe, Vermont by Publisher Dennis Symons of MidJersey.News in early morning hours of July 23, 2022 while on vacation.
Several factors are needed to capture the lights, clear dark sky, a camera with high iso, a fast lens, a tripod and a long shutter speed of 5 to 10 seconds and a strong enough aurora. This image was captured using a Canon 5D Mark IV on a tripod with a Tamron 15-30mm 2.8f at 3.2f, iso 10,000 for 6 seconds. Try to keep your exposures less than 10 seconds for most images since the rotation of the earth the stars will blur as the shutter stays open longer. There are ways to overcome the blur using a star tracker but that is more advanced.