What causes the northern lights? About the aurora borealis and why it's visible over Ohio

The skies above Ohio have put on quite a show this year, between a total solar eclipse , the " devil comet ," meteor showers , a temporary " mini-moon " and, of course, the northern lights .

The aurora borealis has shown its colors in the Buckeye State several times this year, most recently on Thursday . And, of course, there was a fantastic display of the northern lights on May 10 across all of the United States and farther south.

So what causes the northern lights? And why are we seeing so much of the aurora this year? Here's what to know.

What is the aurora borealis? What causes the northern lights?

Auroras are ribbons of light weaving across Earth's northern or southern polar regions, according to NASA . Magnetic storms that have been triggered by solar activity, such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections, cause them. The solar wind carries energetic charged particles from these events away from the sun.

These energized particles hit the atmosphere at 45 million mph and are redirected to the poles by the earth's magnetic field, according to Space.com , creating the light show.

During major geomagnetic storms, the auroras expand away from the poles and can be seen over some parts of the United States, according to the NOAA .

What is a coronal mass ejection?

NASA describes coronal mass ejections as "huge bubbles of coronal plasma threaded by intense magnetic field lines that are ejected from the sun over the course of several hours." The Akron Beacon Journal reports that the space agency says they often look like "huge, twisted rope" and can occur with solar flares, or explosions on the sun's surface.

What's causing so many solar storms? The sun is nearing its solar cycle peak

The sun is becoming more active as it nears the peak of its current 11-year solar cycle, which began in 2019, according to NASA ,

As the peak (which is projected to happen in July 2025) nears, geomagnetic storms are more likely to occur. That, in turn, increases the chances that the aurora will be visible from the United States, Erica Grow Cei, meteorologist and spokesperson for the SWPC, previously told the Beacon Journal .

Following the peak, solar activity slows down, according to NASA, growing less and less until the solar minimum. At that point, a new solar cycle begins as solar activity rebounds.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What causes the northern lights? About the aurora borealis and why it's visible over Ohio