(NEXSTAR) — Earth's atmosphere is about to be struck by expelled solar material, federal forecasters have warned, which means some in the U.S. may soon see the northern lights.

The expected celestial activity will be sparked by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which were hurled out by the sun over the weekend, interacting with our atmosphere, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) explains.

CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic material from the sun. When that material collides with Earth's magnetic field, various activities can occur. While that can result in impacts to our infrastructure and communications, the most likely outcome of the CME interactions that you'll see is the northern lights.

The strength of the activity — known as a geomagnetic storm — will influence how s

See Full Page