People in the northernmost states may have a chance to see auroras shining in the northern sky tonight.

A blob of electrically charged gas erupted from the Sun over the weekend. It will pass the Earth’s magnetic field between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. ET Wednesday night, triggering an aurora that could be visible as far south as South Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Because this particular coronal mass ejection (the technical name for what happens when the Sun burps part of its own corona into space) won’t hit our frontal magnetic field, tonight’s aurora won’t reach as far south as other recent displays. , and the chances of a dramatic performance are slim. But this won’t be our last chance to catch the northern lights in action. Here’s a quick look at why we’ve been seeing the aurora so often these past few months.

Why are we seeing so many auroras lately?

Auroras occur when fast-moving, electrically charged gas called plasma is trapped by Earth’s magnetic field. Chunks of plasma collide with the air in Earth’s upper atmosphere, releasing bright bursts of light. The greenish hue of most auroras comes from plasma colliding with oxygen molecules 60 to 125 miles above the ground; oxygen at higher altitude glows red. At somewhat lower altitudes, nitrogen emits a pink or purple glow.

Other planets they have their own auroraswhich it looks different depending on the planet’s atmosphere.

And the plasma that paints the sky with colored light comes from the ceaseless churning of our Sun. The Sun’s magnetic field lines are constantly shifting, and occasionally the Sun’s surface erupts in a burst of light, heat, and other radiation called a solar flare. Some solar flares are powerful enough to bring up a glob of plasma from the Sun’s outer layers: a coronal mass ejection. When the plasma from a CME hits the Earth’s magnetic field, we can see an aurora (if we’re lucky).

In other words, these dazzling light shows are CMEs throwing off our planet’s magnetic shield. And they’ve been happening a lot more often in the past few months because our Sun is in its fiery era (by which we mean it is in the middle of a solar maximum) until sometime in 2026.

The Sun’s restless magnetic field actually reverses every 11 years, give or take a few. When this happens, it restarts a cycle where the Sun becomes more, and then less, active over a period of several years based on the changing power of its magnetic field, which interacts with the Sun’s plasma to cause solar flares. CMEs and sunspots. During the most active part of the solar cycle, called solar maximum, flares and CMEs are much more common, meaning we’re much more likely to see auroras.

And the current solar maximum is just beginning; NASA doesn’t expect to peak until 2025.

Tips for viewing the Aurora

Find the darkest place possible, away from the light pollution of nearby cities. Turn off your headlights and dim your phone. Give your eyes about half an hour to adjust to the dark, then look toward the northern horizon.

usually Inverse it tells you to turn your phone off completely or leave it in your pocket to stargaze, but you’ll need it for the aurora. Your phone’s camera may have a better chance of capturing the aurora in action than your eyes because the camera can collect more light – meaning a faint aurora can appear in a picture even if you can’t see it on sky Use the settings that give you the longest exposure (meaning your camera spends more time collecting light) for the best result; night mode is your friend.

People in a northern part of the US – Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin – will have the best chance of seeing the aurora this time (and even then, Jamie Carter at Forbes warn that there is a small chance). The rest of us will have to catch the next one, but the ongoing Solar Maximum practically guarantees there will be a next one.