After displays of auroras lit up the sky on Tuesday, another Northern Light array is expected to bring a gleaming light show to the northern part of the U.S. Wednesday.

What are the northern lights? Here is the science behind perhaps one of the most elusive natural phenomena, the shimmering waves of green, pink, and red dancing across the night sky, forming the aurora borealis.

The colors you see from the Northern Lights depend on which gas in our atmosphere the particles are interacting with and at what height in the atmosphere.

Skies over North America erupted this week with shimmering colors: Shades of pink, purple and green swayed across the skies in northern as well as some southern states. It followed two similarly prolific auroral displays in North America in October and May of 2024.

The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) were recently visible across California, with rare sightings reported as far south as Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

Triggered by an intense geomagnetic storm, the northern nights made a rare visit to the Southland on Tuesday night, painting the skies above the Angeles National Forest in dazzling pink and purple hues.

It could happen all over again on Wednesday night. The severe solar storm behind the light show — which involves the sun spewing charged particles into Earth’s magnetic field, a process called “ coronal mass ejections ” — is still ongoing .

The Isle of Man was treated to an "incredible" display of the Northern Lights overnight, with the pink, red, and green hues of the Aurora Borealis, clearly visible in many parts of the island.