New Yorkers might get a ticket to a stellar show tonight, seen on the world’s biggest screen.
A solar flare could mean the northern lights make a rare appearance over northern parts of the contiguous United States tonight, including New York.
Accuweather reports that solar radiation that causes the lights — properly called the aurora borealis — are scheduled to hit around 8 p.m. EDT, but the site cautions that it could happen anywhere before 2 a.m.
“If the radiation hits much after dark settles on the East Coast the lights may be missed and will instead only be visible for the West,” according to the site.
The brilliant displays are caused by radiation from the sun interacting with the Earth’s magnetosphere. In this case, the radiation is from a coronal mass ejection that occurred last Thursday, a “mid-;level flare” that was the biggest so far this year, according to the LA Times.
The clouds could spoil the fun. Accuweather reports that the best viewing will be in Ohio, but a combination of location and cloud cover make for poor conditions everywhere else.