Don’t miss: The northern lights will shine on Monday and Tuesday night

Residents of the northern United States, come and brave the cold outdoors Monday or Tuesday night to catch a glimpse of the stunning Northern Lights. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is currently forecasting that a geomagnetic storm will impact Earth on Monday and Tuesday, pushing the northern lights toward the northern United States.

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This bout of aurora borealis comes to Earth thanks to a coronal mass ejection from the Sun on December 6. Coronal mass ejections are massive explosions of plasma and other solar material that are forcibly expelled from the Sun. These events occur fairly constantly when the sun is up At maximum solar energywhich will be until the end of the year and until 2026. An M8 solar flare is expected to affect Earth in the early hours of December 9.

How far will the aurora borealis reach?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expects the aurora borealis to be visible in the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It may also be visible in Oregon, Nebraska, Wyoming, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, if you can get high enough and look north. Very northern areas of Indiana, Illinois and New York may also see some events. As always, Alaska and Canada offer the best view.

The aurora on Tuesday night will be weaker than Monday night, but will still be visible in largely the same list of states.

This round of aurora is not expected to be quite as far-reaching as the massive aurora that It hit in early November. This was caused by an X-class coronal mass ejection, a higher-level M-class coronal mass ejection that is expected to reach Earth on Monday and Tuesday. Aurora forecasts are very similar to the weather, so they may change depending on whether the geomagnetic storm is weaker or stronger than its current forecast.

Tips for watching the Northern Lights

All standard advice for observing the aurora borealis applies to this one. You’ll need to get as high as possible and head north to get the best view of the aurora borealis from your location. The farther you are from the Canadian border, the higher you’ll need to go to see it. You’ll also need to get out of the city and suburbs to reduce light pollution.

The bad news is that December was a full moon Also a supermoonIt was only a few days ago, so it’s still full in the night sky. Light pollution from the moon will almost certainly hurt your ability to see the northern lights, especially if you’re in one of the southernmost states in NOAA’s forecast area.

If you decide to venture out, be sure to watch for meteors as well. The Geminid meteor shower began on December 4 and is approaching its peak on December 13 and 14, so you may see some meteors as you search for the aurora borealis.