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Wisconsin’s night sky glowing with Northern Lights as a geomagnetic storm brings vibrant pink and green colors. (Photo by Ross Harried\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Northern Lights<\/a> may be visible in the U.S. this weekend after a stream of solar wind escaped from a hole on the sun, followed by a coronal mass ejection. The potential display is slated for after dark on Sunday, Sept. 14, and into the early hours of Monday, Sept. 15.<\/p>\n While normally this event wouldn’t be expected to spark auroras, the equinox on Sept. 22 causes a seasonal geometry that can mean unpredictable and impressive displays.<\/p>\n It comes on the same weekend as a surprise meteor shower<\/a>, a planet parade<\/a> and news of both potential life on Mars<\/a> and an incoming comet<\/a> that could prove to be a naked eye object in October.<\/p>\n Northern Lights And The \u2018Butterfly\u2019 Coronal Hole<\/p>\n On Thursday, Sept. 11, NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed a 310 miles (500,000 kilometers) wide coronal hole \u2014 a massive gap in the sun’s outer atmosphere \u2014 shaped like a butterfly. This area of open magnetic fields more easily releases charged particles into space.<\/p>\n A faint coronal mass ejection was also launched into space on Sept. 11. A CME is a cloud of charged particles that takes a few days to reach Earth \u2014 if it’s Earth-directed. According to Spaceweather.com<\/a>, most of the material in this CME will pass south of Earth, but there’s a chance of a glancing blow on Sunday, Sept. 14.<\/p>\n If the CME does make contact, its arrival will likely coincide with the arrival of the solar wind stream, heightening the likelihood of geomagnetic activity \u2014 probably after dark on Sunday, Sept. 14 and into the early hours of Monday, Sept. 15.<\/p>\n The 310 miles (500,000 kilometers) wide coronal hole \u2014 shaped like a butterfly \u2014 as seen on Sept. 12, 2025 by NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory The combined effects of the solar wind and CME could trigger G1 to G2-class geomagnetic storms. NOAA’s geomagnetic storm scale, runs from G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme). If a G1 storm results, auroras could be seen in northern skies along the U.S.-Canada border. If it reaches G2, auroras may be seen as far south as New York and Idaho. Skywatchers should keep an eye on NOAA’s three-day forecast<\/a>, its latest aurora viewlines<\/a> and its 30-minute forecast<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nNorthern Lights: What To Expect This Weekend<\/p>\n