Topline
More than a dozen states in the northern U.S. might have an opportunity to see the northern lights Thursday, as a recent coronal mass ejection is expected to disrupt Earth’s geomagnetic field, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA forecast a Kp index of six on a scale of nine for Thursday night, suggesting aurora borealis will move farther from the poles and become “quite bright and active.”
Thursday’s auroral forecast comes as minor to moderate geomagnetic storms are expected Thursday night and early Friday morning, which NOAA said are the result of a coronal mass ejection emitted from the sun on Aug. 5.
Similar auroral activity is expected Friday night and early Saturday morning as minor geomagnetic storms are forecast, with a maximum Kp index of five forecast, according to NOAA’s three-day outlook.
Northern Canada and Alaska will have the highest chance to view the northern lights once the sun sets in the state. A view line marking a minimal opportunity sweeps through Iowa and northern Illinois, with a lesser chance forecast for parts of Washington, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, and an even lower opportunity expected for parts of Oregon, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. (See map below.)
NOAA recommends traveling to a north-facing, high vantage point away from light pollution sometime between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time.
With a smartphone, NOAA suggests enabling night mode, disabling flash and using a tripod to stabilize the image. If using a regular camera, photography experts told National Geographic it’s best to use a wide-angle lens, an aperture or F-stop of four or less and a focus set to the furthest possible setting.
Increased auroral activity is expected to persist into early 2026 after activity on the sun’s surface achieved a “solar maximum” in 2024, NOAA and NASA said. This peak features more solar events like coronal mass ejections and solar flares, which are largely responsible for creating the northern lights. Electrons from these events collide with molecules of oxygen and nitrogen in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing them to become “excited” before releasing energy in the form of colorful, swirling lights.