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The solar system is coming into its own New Year’s Eve showwith the northern lights potentially visible as far south as Oregon and Illinois on December 31st.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a geomagnetic storm warning for New Year’s Eve that could cause the aurora borealis much further south than usual.
The warning comes after several other solar storms swept the north visible in much more of the United States of the 2024 normal.
The sun is currently in a period of solar maximumwhere coronal mass ejections (CMEs) send plumes of plasma and magnetic field into space, causing geomagnetic storm conditions in Earth’s magnetosphere.
When CMEs come into contact with the magnetosphere, the electrically charged particles collide with atmospheric gases and release energy that manifests as lights, giving us the colorful light show known as the aurora borealis.
Space weather is difficult to predict, but the lights may also be visible on December 30. Hopeful sky watchers will also need the ground forecast to cooperate, as the lights are best seen in clear skies.
For the best chance to see the natural light show, go outside to a place with as little light pollution as possible. If you are struggling to see, your phone can helpas sensitive phone cameras can sometimes capture more lights than are visible to the naked eye.
