{"id":414820,"date":"2026-01-18T11:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/414820\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T11:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:39:08","slug":"these-10-states-could-see-aurora-borealis-tonight-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/414820\/","title":{"rendered":"These 10 States Could See Aurora Borealis Tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Topline<\/p>\n<p>Ten northern states could have an opportunity to see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/products\/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/products\/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/products\/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental\" aria-label=\"aurora borealis\">aurora borealis<\/a> Saturday and Sunday due to the arrival of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/products\/forecast-discussion\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/products\/forecast-discussion\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/products\/forecast-discussion\" aria-label=\"fast solar winds\">fast solar winds<\/a> from a coronal hole on the sun, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. <\/p>\n<p>The northern lights could be visible in parts of the U.S. Saturday and Sunday. <\/p>\n<p>Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/content\/tips-viewing-aurora\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/content\/tips-viewing-aurora\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/content\/tips-viewing-aurora\" aria-label=\"Kp index\">Kp index<\/a>\u2014measuring how far away from the poles the northern lights could be visible\u2014is predicted as a 5 out of 9 both Saturday and Sunday, suggesting the lights will \u201cbe quite pleasing to look at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is likely to be minor to moderate solar activity, NOAA says, with a \u201clarge, positive polarity coronal hole\u201d continuing through the weekend. <\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/phenomena\/coronal-holes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/phenomena\/coronal-holes\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/phenomena\/coronal-holes\" aria-label=\"coronal hole\">coronal hole<\/a> is an area on the sun where energy leaks more freely, which allows solar particles to race toward Earth and increase the chances of seeing the northern lights. <\/p>\n<p>NOAA says the wind stream could lead to a minor geomagnetic storm, which occurs when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth\u2019s magnetic field. <\/p>\n<p>Where Will The Northern Lights Be Visible?<\/p>\n<p>Northern Canada and Alaska always have the highest likelihood of viewing the northern lights, but NOAA\u2019s predicted \u201cview line\u201d this weekend extends to many northern states\u2014Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Maine. The line hovers just north of New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. <\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s The Best Time To See The Northern Lights?<\/p>\n<p>NOAA says the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/content\/tips-viewing-aurora\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/content\/tips-viewing-aurora\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/content\/tips-viewing-aurora\" aria-label=\"best time\">best time<\/a> to view the aurora borealis is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., hours that could extend \u201cas the level of geomagnetic activity increases.\u201d The northern lights are not as active and visually appealing during evenings and mornings, according to NOAA.<\/p>\n<p>How To Photograph The Northern Lights<\/p>\n<p>National Geographic recommends using a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/travel\/article\/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights-according-to-an-expert\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/travel\/article\/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights-according-to-an-expert\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/travel\/article\/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights-according-to-an-expert\" aria-label=\"wide-angle lens\">wide-angle lens<\/a> to capture the aurora borealis, with a focus on strong composition. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/travel\/article\/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights-according-to-an-expert\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/travel\/article\/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights-according-to-an-expert\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/travel\/article\/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights-according-to-an-expert\" aria-label=\"Experts\">Experts<\/a> suggest using an F-stop or aperture of four or less and a focus set to the farthest possible setting. For taking photos of the northern lights on a smartphone, enable night mode for iPhones or Pro mode for Androids, then use a tripod to stabilize the image.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline Ten northern states could have an opportunity to see the aurora borealis Saturday and Sunday due to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[25686,11315,25685,79,198803],"class_list":{"0":"post-414820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-aurora-borealis","9":"tag-forecast","10":"tag-northern-lights","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-this-weekend"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414820","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=414820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}