This is where Americans can see the northern lights on New Year’s Eve

The sun appears to be in a festive mood: A powerful geomagnetic storm has been observed for the next day, raising the possibility of an aurora borealis – a display of the northern lights – on New Year’s Eve.

The Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Weather Service issued a Watch the geomagnetic storm for December 31, based on a coronal mass ejection — a volcanic eruption on the Sun’s surface — that occurred on December 29. A New Year’s Eve storm watch was rated G3, for a strong storm. According to SWPC, strong storms can disorient spacecraft and cause problems with GPS and low-frequency radio navigation systems. Auroras are expected “over many northern states and some areas of the lower Midwest into Oregon,” according to the warning. But don’t let that discourage you if you’re in the deep south; Space weather experts He says New phone camera technology is able to capture lights even if your eyes can’t see them. So, even if aurora isn’t expected in your area, it can’t hurt to try to photograph it.

Northern lights They occur when charged particles from the Sun interact with Earth’s magnetic field, causing gases in our planet’s atmosphere to glow. When solar activity is most extreme — that is, when our host star is spewing material into space in solar flares — it causes bright auroras, sometimes surprisingly close to the equator.

The sun passes through A solar cycle of 11 yearsAt the extreme, space weather tends to be more intense. There are approximately 200 G3 geomagnetic storms each solar cycle, and the Sun is somewhere around the maximum right now, which is why there are so many geomagnetic storms. Large geomagnetic storms It happened this year. In May, I felt the earth The strongest geomagnetic storm to hit the planet within 20 years, sending the aurora across the sky as far south as Florida and Texas.

And SWPC too Announce Two powerful radio blackout events on Monday were caused by a pair of solar flares. The effects of the flares could include signal loss in high-frequency communications bands on Earth’s dayside, although the associated coronal mass ejections are “designed not to have an Earthward component,” the alert noted.

Along with the G3 storm watch, a G1 (or secondary) storm watch is in place for New Year’s Day, with the possibility of this alert being upgraded to a G2 storm watch. Space weather researchers cannot assess precise levels of geomagnetic turbulence until the Sun’s charged particles are 1 million miles (1.61 million km) from Earth, or about 30-60 minutes after arriving at Earth. “None of the coronal mass ejections are expected to have a direct hit,” according to the storm watch notice, “making intensity predictions more difficult.”

The aurora borealis is best seen when the sky is clear, away from prominent light sources. In other words, if you’re trying to watch Earth’s natural light show, it’s best to do so away from artificial light displays on New Year’s Eve. We welcome you all in 2025 for another dynamic year under the auspices of our exploding star.