If seeing the northern lights is on your bucket list, you might just be in luck. The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, could appear in parts of Idaho on Thursday, July 13.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute forecasts that auroral activity will be high next Thursday, with hyperactive light displays visible in parts of Canada and the U.S.
It has not yet been determined specifically when the lights could appear in Idaho, but the forecast lists a section of the state in range of seeing the aurora borealis.
Here’s what you need to know to catch the northern lights.
More:Want to see the northern lights? Good news: Experts predict years of awesome aurora viewing.
Where could the northern lights appear in Idaho?
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is listing Boise as a place with the potential to see the northern lights next week. For Boise, the lights could be “visible low on the horizon.”
When time will the northern lights be visible?
The best chance of viewing the aurora borealis is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center says. People interested in seeing them should get away from city lights.
The higher the geomagnetic activity, the brighter the aurora. As the day approaches, NOAA will monitor the activity and release a forecast of its own.
Next week’s northern lights display:Here’s where you might view them in each state
Where else can the northern lights be seen?
Here are the other states that may see the northern lights next week:
- Alaska
- Montana
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- Michigan
- Maine
- New York
- New Hampshire
- Washington
- Vermont
- Maryland
- Oregon
- Wyoming
- Indiana
When was the last major northern light event in the U.S.?
A geomagnetic storm created lights that were visible in 30 U.S. states in late April. The aurora could be seen in parts of Iowa, North Dakota and Kansas.
What are the northern lights?
The aurora borealis is a phenomenon that creates glowing, colorful lights in the sky that can be seen in certain parts of the world, especially around the magnetic poles in the northern and southern hemispheres.
What causes the northern lights?
The natural phenomenon is usually caused by solar winds coming from the sun and Earth’s magnetic field, according to the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
“Aurora is the name given to the glow or light produced when electrons from space flow down Earth’s magnetic field and collide with atoms and molecules of the upper atmosphere in a ring or oval centered on the magnetic pole of Earth,” the website says. “The collisions produce light much like how electrons flowing through gas in a neon light collide with neon and other gases to produce different colored light bulbs.”
Kate Perez covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@gannett.com or on Twitter @katecperez_.