The Aurora Borealis Is Back Tonight, and It May Hit Up to 20 States
This edition of the northern lights is brought to you by a pair of coronal mass ejections that erupted on New Year's Day.
This edition of the northern lights is brought to you by a pair of coronal mass ejections that erupted on New Year's Day.
Joe Hindy
2 min read
It's a busy start to the year for skygazers. There's a supermoon coming on Jan. 3, the same day as the peak of the Quadrantids meteor shower. Tonight, meanwhile, the aurora borealis is predicted to make an appearance. If you don't mind the cold this weekend, you'll have plenty to look at outdoors on Friday and Saturday night.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, tonight's aurora -- aka the northern lights -- arises from a G2 magnetic storm, which tends to push the aurora borealis into the northern third of the United States. The height of the storm is expected late Friday and early Saturday, just after midnight. It'll taper off as sunrise approaches.
This aurora is heading to Earth because of a coronal mass ejection, a cloud of plasma and other solar materials ejected from the sun, on New Year's Day. The CME was classified as a C6-level flare, which isn't particularly strong, but it is traveling right at Earth. Once it gets here, the solar material will interact with the Earth's geomagnetic field, which is what causes the northern lights to appear.
NOAA predicts that the upper third of the US will get to see the northern lights tonight.
NOAA
The states expected to get the best view of the aurora include Alaska, Washington, the northern tip of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Eagle-eyed viewers with a good vantage point should be able to see it in Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Depending on the strength, people in northern portions of Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania may also see it.
Since the aurora borealis is much like regular Earth weather, the storm may be weaker or stronger than predicted, so even if you're just south of NOAA's predicted view line, keep an eye on your local news in case the geomagnetic storm is stronger than expected, which will push the aurora even further south.