Northern lights predicted for Wednesday

A geomagnetic storm warning has been issued for Wednesday, July 24. After a series of solar flares in recent days, there is a chance of seeing the Northern Lights in Midwestern states from New York to Idaho, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Last week, the sun released two massive Class X solar flares, 26 Class M flares and 23 coronal mass ejections as solar cycle 25 reached or approached its peak, according to NASA. When the solar flares accompany coronal mass ejections and collide with Earth’s magnetosphere, they create geomagnetic storms that increase the activity of the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.

The geomagnetic storm warning issued for Wednesday is the result of coronal mass ejections on the far side of the sun that erupted on July 21, NOAA explained. Solar flares are associated with coronal mass ejections, which occur when plasma from the sun embeds itself in Earth’s magnetic field, NOAA explains. When the solar material reaches Earth, geomagnetic storms can occur.

NASA describes the phenomenon as a solar burp in a separate report, adding that the sun has a lot of energy and small particles that the planet’s magnetic field provides protection from, but “during a type of solar storm called a coronal mass ejection, the sun ‘burps’ out huge bubbles of electrified gas that can travel through space at high speeds,” NASA’s website says. “The particles then interact with gases in the atmosphere, creating beautiful light displays in the sky.”

“Oxygen emits green and red light,” NASA adds. “Nitrogen glows blue and violet.”