Nearly two dozen states could catch a glimpse of the northern lights on Nov. 12 after the aurora borealis illuminated skies across the northern contiguous U.S. the night before.
A coronal mass ejection, or large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun, is expected to reach earth around mid-day on Nov. 12, likely causing increased geomagnetic activity, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.
On the K-index scale — which indicates how far away from the poles the northern lights could be visible — NOAA is predicting a 6 out of 9 for Nov. 12. A Kp score around 6-7 indicates a bright and active aurora, per NOAA.
On another geomagnetic storm scale, NOAA ranks the event a G2, which is considered a moderate event.
The northern lights, a natural phenomenon formally known as the aurora borealis, can project colorful lights in the night sky because of an interaction between the sun's plasma and Earth's magnetic field, according to the National Weather Service.
