Northern Lights may be visible in the US by New Year: NPR

The northern lights flare in the sky above a farmhouse on May 10, 2024 in Brunswick, Maine.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

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Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Fireworks may not be the only thing that lights up the sky when the clock strikes midnight and rings in the new year.

The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are expected to be visible in parts of North America starting Tuesday evening, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

A couple coronal mass ejections — bursts of magnetic field and plasma from the sun’s outer atmosphere — are expected to reach Earth on Tuesday and create a strong geomagnetic storm across the Northern Hemisphere, potentially giving many Americans a stunning view as they ring in the new year.

“Norwegians may become visible over many parts of the northern states and some of the lower Midwest into Oregon,” NOAA says.

The aurora is normally visible in northern polar regions, but because the sun’s current solar cycle has reached its maximum and produced large solar storms, the luminous bands of color have been visible this year in parts of the United States that normally wouldn’t see them.

“The Sun has an eleven-year activity cycle in which the frequency of activity (solar flares, coronal mass ejections) rises and falls. The year 2024 was the peak of our current solar cycle, marked by several solar storms that affected Earth,” Lisa Upton, principal scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Color., tells NPR. Upton is also co-chair of NOAA and NASA’s Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel.

In May, people in states as far south as Alabama were treated to the heavenly show. In general, fall and spring are the best seasons to look for the northern lights in the United States, according to NOAA.

Now, if the coronal mass ejection, or CME, arrives Tuesday afternoon and is strong enough, the evening will be “promising for aurora development,” Shawn Dahl, a space weather forecaster at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, told NPR.

Dahl says Tuesday night and possibly Wednesday night are the best opportunities to spot the northern lights.

And since it’s a new moon — its invisible phase when the side of the moon facing Earth isn’t illuminated — the chances of seeing the northern lights in expected areas will be greater.

Nevertheless, seeing an aurora is a “game of chance” and cloud watchers should be patient, says NASA.

For the best chances of seeing the northern lights, go outside at night away from the city lights and look north, NOAA advisor.

The best northern lights can usually be seen between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., but it can also be seen in the morning and in the evening, the agency says.

Northern lights can be seen with the naked eye. To take a good photo of the northern lights on your cellphone, use “night mode,” the bureau says. You can also adjust the ISO and exposure settings or use an app to help with your camera settings.

Skygazers can track the time and location of the aurora on aurora forecast apps and NOAA’s website.