Topline
The northern lights could be visible from states along the U.S.-Canadian border on Sunday night, forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, as a coronal mass ejection from the Sun has a chance to cause minor geomagnetic storms.
A coronal mass ejection recorded on Friday could reach Earth and cause geomagnetic storms on Sunday night.
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Key Facts
Forecasters at NOAA predicted a Kp index of four out of nine for Sunday night, indicating the aurora could appear “brighter” for some viewers, with more “motions and formations.”
The Earth could also see the effects of minor geomagnetic storms as a coronal mass ejection that escaped from the Sun on Friday reaches Earth.
The view line for the aurora on Sunday night.
NOAA
What Are Coronal Mass Ejections?
Coronal mass ejections are expulsions of plasma that escape from the Sun’s corona, its outermost atmosphere. This material travels towards the Earth and interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms. They often accompany solar flares, and NASA recorded an X-class solar flare—the strongest type measured—on Friday. The coronal mass ejection approaching the Earth on Sunday only has a slight chance to cause minor geomagnetic storms, or a G1 on NOAA’s scale out of five. These weaker storms only cause minor impacts on things like satellites and power grids, but can cause the northern lights to appear brighter and visible further south.