When to See the Northern Lights in the Continental US This Week
This weekend, a huge geomagnetic storm raged on the surface of the Sun, causing coronal mass ejections (that is, solar flares) to Earth. Scientists say there’s nothing to worry about ( yet )—solar flares hit the Earth all the time—but the strength of this rare phenomenon will give many residents in relatively southern locations the chance to see the northern lights—commonly called the Northern Lights—this week. .
The dazzling nighttime display of color was visible to the naked eye over the weekend in Washington, Wyoming and Maine, and could be detected as far south as Texas if you pointed a camera at the sky with a long shutter speed . The celestial spectacle can last throughout the week, so here’s how to maximize your chances of seeing it.
How to see the Northern Lights this week
Whether you’ll be able to see the Northern Lights this week is crazy. Science isn’t very good at accurately predicting geomagnetic storm activity over the long term—we can tell when a particular solar flare will hit us about a day in advance—but according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ aurora forecast , Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week There may be an opportunity to test this phenomenon, provided you are far enough north and there are no clouds or other light pollution in the sky, as sunspot activity is expected to be relatively high these days.
Typically, the northern lights are visible at latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees, making Alaska the only place in the United States where you can regularly see them. But these are strange times: We’re heading into a period of increased sunspot activity, and large eruptions of solar plasma this weekend could signal that there’s more to come. Or not. You really can’t tell what the sun is going to do.
Another northern lights could appear over Thanksgiving weekend
Auroral activity is measured on a nine-point scale. This weekend, the scale has risen to 6. Thanksgiving weekend—November 22 to 25—will see three days of Level 5 auroral activity, so you may have a chance to see dancing colored lights in the holiday skies. (If you really want to increase your chances, you have no choice but to go to Alaska, Canada or Iceland.)
2024 and 2025 could be good years for seeing the northern lights.
The level of geomagnetic activity on the Sun varies depending on the number of sunspots, and sunspot activity peaks every 11 years. The current cycle peaks in 2025. Whether the current activity is a fluke or indicates a more spectacular “sunspot season” remains to be seen. But before you get too excited: while the northern lights definitely look cool, they have the potential to cause some serious problems.
Solar flares: nature’s most beautiful disaster
When a large enough solar flare hits Earth, it can be very bad. In 1859, the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded hit the Earth and lit up the sky so brightly that people thought it was dawn. This disrupted telegraphs around the world and also destroyed power grids. This wasn’t such a big deal in the 1800s because the world didn’t rely on communications and electricity as much as it does now, but imagine a massive solar flare setting the world’s electrical system on fire, causing satellites to fall out of orbit and shut down. global connectivity completely. Things could get really bad.
There’s not much you can do to prevent a solar flare from hitting Earth, but you can prepare for this extremely possible and even probable occurrence. For more information, check out Lifehacker’s guide on how to prepare for a solar storm .