The aurora borealis – otherwise known as the northern lights – is a vivid demonstration of the Earth's magnetic field interacting with charged particles from the sun. It's also beautiful, and worth braving a cold night out when visiting the high northern (or southern) latitudes. <br /><br />Auroras are centered on the Earth's magnetic poles, visible in a roughly circular region around them. Since the magnetic and geographic poles aren't the same, sometimes the auroras are visible farther south than one might expect, while in other places it's farther north.<br /><br />In the Northern Hemisphere, the auroral zone runs along the northern coast of Siberia, Scandinavia, Iceland, the southern tip of Greenland and northern Canada and Alaska. Auroras are visible south of the zone, but they are less likely to occur the farther away you go. The Southern Hemisphere auroral zone is mostly over Antarctica, or the Southern Ocean. To see the southern lights (or aurora australis), you have to go to Tasmania, and there are occasional sightings in southern Argentina or the Falklands<br /><br />If you live across portions of the northern U.S., keep your eyes to the sky over the next few nights: Barring pesky clouds, you might catch a peek of the northern lights, aka the aurora borealis. <br /><br />According to SpaceWeather.com, auroras could be sighted in northern-tier U.S. states from Maine to Montana to Washington this week.<br /><br />The colorful event is courtesy of a solar flare, which erupted out of a sunspot Monday. A coronal mass ejection – a burst of plasma from the sun – is also heading toward the Earth, and it should get here later Wednesday or on Thursday<br />So Thursday night might end up being the best night for to see the northern lights<br /><br />The aurora forms when the particles flowing from the sun get caught up in the Earth's magnetic field. The particles interact with molecules of atmospheric gases to cause the famed glowing red and green colors of the aurora.<br /><br />The lights are visible in both the far northern and southern parts of the world. The southern lights are known as the aurora australis.<br /><br />When Northern Lights in US<br />Aurora Borealis US<br />Aurora Borealis USA<br />Aurora Borealis 2020 Live <br />Aurora Borealis America <br />Aurora Borealis Alaska<br />Northern Lights Canada <br />Northern Lights Washington <br />Northern Lights Australia <br />Aurora Borealis Canada<br />Aurora Borealis Australia <br />Aurora Borealis New Zealand <br />Aurora Borealis Michigan <br />Northern Lights Alaska <br />Northern Lights Michigan <br />Aurora Borealis Washington<br />Aurora Forecast <br />Aurora Forecast US<br />Northern Lights Storm <br />Aurora Forecast Storm<br />G3 Storm US<br />G3 Storm<br />Northern Lights UK<br />Northern Lights Scotland <br />Northern Lights Canada <br />Aurora Borealis UK<br />Aurora Borealis Scotland <br />Aurora Borealis Canada <br />Aurora Borealis Norway <br />Aurora Borealis Iceland <br />Northern Lights Norway<br />Aurora Borealis Finland <br />Aurora Borealis 2021<br />Aurora Borealis Live <br />Aurora Borealis Milky Way<br />Northern Lights 2021<br />Northern Lights Live <br />Northern Lights Norway <br />Northern Lights Finland <br />Northern Lights Milky wa
