As people around the world celebrate the New Year on December 31, the northern lights put on a colorful display to ring in 2025. If you missed it, you may have another chance to see what's happening in space on Friday, January 3 and Saturday, January. 4, according to SpaceWeather.com.
The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are caused by magnetic storms caused by solar activity, such as solar flares or CMEs, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The energetic particles from these events are carried away from the sun by the solar wind and eventually enter the Earth's atmosphere. Particles collide with molecules in our atmosphere and, as the air particles dissipate the energy gained during the collision, each one glows a different color.
On December 31, two coronal mass ejections hit the Earth's magnetic field and created a massive geomagnetic storm. Next, bright auroras were seen as far south as Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona.
Geomagnetic storms are rated on a scale of G1 to G5 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with G5 being the most extreme. According to NOAA, G1 (minor) conditions were declared on December 31, but increased to G3 (strong) on January 1 after the arrival of the second CME. The geomagnetic storm has subsided, but more northern lights are forecast.
According to space meteorologist Tamitha Skov, it is possible that the northern lights will appear again soon, thanks to the introduction of a new solar storm. “Though the coronagraph has been faint so far, this could bring another chance for #aurora on January 3 & 4!” wrote to X.
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