NOAA<\/a> forecasters say aurora activity is picking up again, which means those dreamy green and pink hues could shimmer across parts of the U.S. tonight and tomorrow.\n<\/p>\n With a Kp index of four this evening \u2014 on a scale that can reach up to nine \u2014 NOAA forecasters say auroras have a chance to appear brighter, with more \u201cmotion and formations.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Read on for everything you need to know about this cosmic spectacle.\n<\/p>\n
When will the northern lights be visible? <\/p>\n
Northern Lights.<\/p>\n
Lokman Vural Elibol\/Anadolu via Getty<\/p>\n
Aurora activity could kick off as soon as it gets dark on Wednesday, Nov. 26, and Thursday, Nov. 27, with NOAA predicting a Kp index of four both evenings.<\/p>\n
That means brighter colors and more movement are possible, especially between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, when the lights tend to be most active.<\/p>\n
Minor geomagnetic storm conditions (G1-level) are also expected, which boosts visibility before and after Thanksgiving.\n<\/p>\n
Where will the northern lights be visible? <\/p>\n
Northern Lights over Lake Berryessa, California.<\/p>\n
Carlos Avila Gonzalez\/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty<\/p>\n
States in the northern U.S. have the best shot!<\/p>\n
NOAA\u2019s view line includes Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine and Alaska. But if solar activity intensifies, the lights could dip farther south than forecast.<\/p>\n
Skies need to stay clear.\n<\/p>\n
How to watch the northern lights? <\/p>\n
The night sky in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
Ross Harried\/NurPhoto via Getty\u00a0<\/p>\n
Auroras can be very fickle!<\/p>\n
The key is to head somewhere dark, quiet and as far north as possible. You\u2019ll want a clear, unobstructed view of the northern horizon, ideally from a hill, field or anywhere away from city light pollution.<\/p>\n
Plan to be outside between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., when auroras tend to peak, and keep looking up \u2014 the northern lights can appear suddenly and fade just as fast.\n<\/p>\n
How to take photos of the northern lights? <\/p>\n
Your smartphone is more powerful than you think.<\/p>\n
Turn on Night Mode (iPhone) or Pro Mode (Android). Turn off your flash, hold steady and use a tripod if you have one.<\/p>\n
Shooting with a DSLR? Grab a wide-angle lens and aim for longer exposures to capture the colors and movement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW The northern lights may appear on Wednesday and Thursday night, with NOAA predicting a Kp…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-315989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}