This is where Americans can see the Northern Lights on New Year’s Day

It looks like the Sun is celebrating: A strong geomagnetic storm watch is in place for the next day, increasing the chances of auroras – a display of the Northern Lights – on New Year’s Eve.

The National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center has released a geomagnetic storm watch of December 31, based on a coronal mass ejection—a solar flare—that occurred on December 29. The New Year’s Eve storm watch is rated G3, because of the intensity of the storm. According to the SWPC, storms can disrupt the atmosphere and cause problems with GPS and low-frequency radio navigation systems. Auroras are predicted for “much of the northern and some parts of the lower Midwest into Oregon,” according to the warning. But don’t let that discourage you if you’re too far south; meteorologists to say New phone camera technology can pick up lights even when your eyes can’t see them. So even if the aurora isn’t expected in your area, it doesn’t hurt to try to photograph it.

Auroras it occurs when particles from the Sun interact with Earth’s magnetic field, causing the Earth’s atmosphere to glow. When the sun’s energy is at its peak—that is, when our host star is throwing things into space with solar flares—it causes auroras to be very bright, sometimes spectacularly close to the equator.

The sun goes through 11 solar yearson a large scale the atmosphere is very strong. There are about 200 G3 geomagnetic storms per solar cycle, and the Sun is somewhere around its peak now, which is why several geomagnetic storms it happened this year. In the month of May, the Earth saw the strongest geomagnetic storm hit Earth in 20 years, sending auroras across the sky as far south as Florida and Texas.

SWPC as well he announced Two strong dark radio events on Monday due to a flare on the Sun. The effects of the fire could include the loss of signals in high-frequency communication bands during the day on Earth, the warning said, although the coronal emission “was determined not to have a direct role on Earth.”

Adjacent to the G3 hurricane watch is a G1 (or smaller) hurricane watch that is in place on New Year’s Day, with the possibility of that warning raising a G2 hurricane watch. Meteorologists cannot calculate the magnitude of the geomagnetic disturbance until particles from the Sun come within 1 million miles (1.61 million kilometers) of Earth, or about 30-60 minutes from reaching Earth. “No more CMEs are expected to make a direct hit,” according to the hurricane information, “which also makes the forecast very strong.”

Auroras are best seen with clear skies away from well-known lights. In other words, if you’re trying to capture the natural light of the world, it’s best to do so away from the New Year’s light shows. See you all in 2025 for another powerful year with the help of our bursting star.