A handful of northern states could be able to catch the aurora borealis on Wednesday night.
The celestial spectacle may be visible in northern Michigan, Maine, and the nation’s high latitudes, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center said. Most of Alaska will be able to see it.
Social media users posted video and images of patches of lime green dancing across the star-speckled evening sky on Tuesday.
“Incredible aurora tonight almost 200 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. We had to drive five hours to clear skies, but we were rewarded with this amazing show,” said X user @Vincent_Ledvina.
Skywatchers hoping to sneak a peak of the dazzling and colorful light show tonight should head outdoors between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, and position themselves away from any light pollution.
The federal agency’s forecast gave the evening a Kp index of three, meaning there will be an increase in activity that can be “quite pleasing to look at.” The scale is used to characterize the magnitude of geomagnetic storms, which occur after the sun releases energy.
The sudden explosion of particles, energy, and magnetic fields can disturb the Earth’s own magnetic field, which shields the planet’s surface from harm.
The planet is feeling the effects of a minor G1 storm, NOAA said. A G1 can bring weak power grid fluctuations and minor impacts on satellite operations. It is unclear if any such impacts have been reported. Larger storms can have much more severe consequences, like global blackouts.
While the view line that marks which areas have a chance of witnessing the phenomenon is expected to be pulled farther south, Forbes notes, auroral activity is expected to decrease over the course of the coming days.
Also known as the northern lights, the beautiful aurora borealis is created when particles from the sun collide with the Earth’s atmosphere and release energy in in the form of light. They often appear in a neon green, rich lavender, or a deep fuchsia.
Recent activity comes amid the sun’s “solar maximum” period, when the star becomes more active and stormy.
In May of last year, the sun’s activity created the strongest geomagnetic storm to reach Earth in two decades and what is potentially among the strongest displays of auroras in the past 500 years. Displays also graced other parts of the lower 48 last fall.
