Spectacular Northern Lights cosmic phenomenon visible in New York this morning - but not for long

New Yorkers are set to be treated to one of nature's greatest shows - the Northern Lights.

Also known as Aurora Borealis, the celestial display could be visible from the Big Apple in the early hours of Wednesday July 24. The phenomena is caused by energised particles from the sun slamming into Earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million miles per hour.

The resulting display can be breathtaking, but usually associated with more northern parts of the world like Iceland, Finland or Norway. But when will be the time to see it? And where?

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Experts have recently observed the after-effects of a "halo CME." A CME, as Forbes explains, is a cloud of magnetic fields and charged particles from the sun that stream into space at up to 1,900 per second.

This phenomenon has led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center to issue a storm watch for today, Wednesday, July 24, according to Space.com. While the alert also includes areas of New York, no specific timings have been given, only that it's expected to occur in the early hours.

"Recent predictions anticipate the arrival window in the early hours of July 24, but there is a level of uncertainty about the exact timings," Space.com has reported.

Yesterday's alert suggested that "displays of Northern Lights could be seen over some northern and upper Midwest U.S. states from New York to Idaho between 06:00-09:00 Universal Time on July 24-that's 01:00-04:00 EDT," according to Forbes.

Generally, the Northern Lights are best viewed at night or in the early morning. The darker the environment, the better the view. So, avoid areas with air pollution and seek out a large expanse of open sky instead. It's worth noting that the Northern Lights are more likely to be visible in the northernmost parts of New York.

Forbes reports that besides New York, the spectacular Aurora Borealis may also be visible from Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Solar flares are large eruptions of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun. They can last anywhere from minutes to hours, and travel at the speed of light. This means that their impact on the sunlit side of Earth's exposed outer atmosphere happens simultaneously with their observation.

These flares typically occur in active regions on the Sun, where there is the presence of strong magnetic fields, usually associated with sunspot groups. As they evolve, they can reach a point of instability and begin releasing energy, including electromagnetic radiation, observed as colourful solar flares.