Northern lights forecast maps for tonight show the best areas in the US to see the aurora borealis

The Northern lights put on an incredible performance across much of the United States on Thursday – and could happen again on Friday evening.

The northern lights were visible as far away as Florida on Thursday. Photos show the sky lit up red and purple, even in some brightly lit areas like New York City And Chicago.

The strong geomagnetic storm that produced such a show According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, temperatures have weakened, but northern lights could return in some parts of the U.S. tonight. Here's what you should know.

Where will the Northern Lights be seen tonight?

According to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center's aurora forecast, the Northern Lights will be visible in parts of the northern United States. The aurora will be visible over much of Canada and Alaska, but the northern lights can also be seen from up to 620 miles away when conditions are right, NOAA says.

Parts of Idaho, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin could see the lights Friday night. On the East Coast, the Northern Lights could be visible in northern New York and parts of Vermont and New Hampshire. Northern Lights may also occur in areas of Maine.

The lights appear in the north when it is dark outside. If you can't see them with the naked eye, they may be visible through one eye Phone camera or another device.

When are the Northern Lights most clearly visible?

According to NOAA, the Northern Lights are most visible just after sunset or just before sunrise. The northern lights are not visible during the day. A dark, cloudless sky with little artificial light provides the best viewing experience.

Why are the Northern Lights so visible lately?

Over the past few months, the Sun has been incredibly active, releasing a series of coronal mass ejections from its surface. CBS Boston reported. This has resulted in several visible aurora shows.

The geomagnetic storm that was responsible for Thursday's stunning skies is now weakening, CBS Boston reported. This means there is less chance of seeing the Northern Lights on Friday, but there could be more opportunities in the future.

Shawn Dahl, forecast coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center, said CBS Boston that the Northern Lights have been so intense recently due to the 11-year position of the sun Solar cycle. Dahl said: “We are in the middle of the solar maximum.”

“This means that the sun is now a twisted mass of strong magnetic fields, and some of them are so localized and intense that they reveal themselves as these sunspot groups,” Dahl said. “This is the source of a number of space weather storms that we are looking for and predicting.”

What causes the Northern Lights?

According to NOAA, the Northern Lights are caused by interactions between the Sun's solar winds and the Earth's protective magnetic field. These two phenomena lead to geomagnetic storms and increased geomagnetic activity.

The higher the geomagnetic activity, the better your chances of seeing the Northern Lights. Increased geomagnetic activity means the auroras will become brighter, more active and visible further from the planet's poles, NOAA said.

Even moderate solar wind produces the aurora, according to NOAA, so a faint aurora is usually visible from somewhere on Earth. The best places to see these fainter auroras are near the planet's poles, such as in Greenland or southern Argentina. When you see the Northern Lights near the North Pole, it is called the Northern Lights. The same phenomenon near the South Pole is called the Southern Lights.