Northern lights could illuminate skies in nearly two dozen states

Nearly two dozen states could catch a glimpse of the northern lights on Nov. 12 after the aurora borealis illuminated skies across the northern contiguous U.S. the night before.

A coronal mass ejection , or large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun, is expected to reach earth around mid-day on Nov. 12, likely causing increased geomagnetic activity, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.

On the K-index scale — which indicates how far away from the poles the northern lights could be visible — NOAA is predicting a 6 out of 9 for Nov. 12. A Kp score around 6-7 indicates a bright and active aurora, per NOAA.

On another geomagnetic storm scale , NOAA ranks the event a G2, which is considered a moderat