A solar storm could add excitement to New Year’s Eve, with the northern lights expected to light up the skies across several northern U.S. states as celebrations unfold nationwide, just in time for the new year.
The northern lights can be seen between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
The New York Times reported that, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Americans may have seen the northern lights early Tuesday morning or late night on New Year’s Eve.
If viewers miss the show on Tuesday, they have another chance to see the lights after sundown on New Year’s Day.
Here’s everything you need to know about the northern lights — how they occur and where in the U.S. you can catch the stunning display.
What are the northern lights?
The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are bursts of color that occur when charged particles from the sun collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere at increased speeds up to 45 mph, Space.com reported. This phenomenon can only be seen in the Northern Hemisphere, compared to those in the Southern Hemisphere called aurora australis.
“These particles are deflected towards the poles of Earth by our planet’s magnetic field and interact with our atmosphere, depositing energy and causing the atmosphere to fluoresce,” Billy Teets, the director of Dyer Observatory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, told the outlet in November.
The phenomenon is also due to the sun’s 11-year activity cycle, which triggers solar storms. As a result, the northern lights are at their brightest, making them easier to see in the sky, per Space.com.
This marks the third time the Northern Lights have been visible in the U.S. across the Northern Hemisphere
According to The Associated Press, the NOAA issued a rare geomagnetic storm warning in May; it was the strongest storm in over two decades, and it resulted in a light display across the Northern Hemisphere. Another powerful storm happened along the Arctic Circle in October, with auroras popping up in places like Germany, the United Kingdom, New England and New York City.
Where can you see the northern lights?
The auroras can be seen this week in Alaska, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Parts of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Iowa and New York will also be able to see it, per AP.
