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Three rapid solar explosions known as coronal mass ejections (CME) is set to slam into Earth’s magnetic field this weekend, bringing dazzling auroras as far south as New York and Idaho.

The coronal ejecta will hit the Earth on August 9, 10 and 11, respectively, coinciding with the peak Perseids Meteor Showeraccording to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Forecast Center Alert.

If a geomagnetic storm occurs, solar eruptions will create a curtain of shifting light through which the bright tails of Perseid shooting stars will be visible.

NOAA is predicting possible auroras this weekend in northern parts of most states along the U.S.-Canada border, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Maine. Here are the agency’s latest forecast for the aurora borealis.

The third and final CME, which erupted on the sun’s surface on August 8, “is moving faster than 1,000 km/s (2.2 million miles per hour) and will likely arrive no later than August 11, adding its effect to the two earlier CMEs (which erupted on August 7) ​​that are already on their way,” he said. update from spaceweather.com.

Coronal discharges originate in sunspots, areas on the Sun’s surface where strong emissions occur. magnetic fieldsCreated as a result of the flow of electric charges, they curl into knots and then burst violently.

The enormous release of energy can eject giant plumes of solar material from the Sun’s surface into the Solar System. Once launched, CMEs travel at millions of miles per hour, sweeping charged particles out of the solar wind, creating a giant, combined wave front.

Related: Sun fires X-class double-barreled flares in 2 hours

These fast storms of solar debris are safely absorbed by Earth’s magnetic fieldbut they can still cause impressive geomagnetic storms. During these storms, the field lines that form a loop between our planet’s south and north magnetic poles are slightly compressed by waves of high-energy particles.

These particles travel along the magnetic field lines near the poles and excite molecules in the atmosphere, releasing energy as light, which causes the colorful auroras.

NOAA classifies geomagnetic storms from G5 to G1, going from strongest to weakest. This weekend’s storm is expected to be a mild G2, but if the CME’s effects combine, “the impact could push the geomagnetic storm into a G3 (strong) category with auroras across mid-latitudes in the U.S. and Europe,” spaceweather wrote.

More intense geomagnetic storms could disrupt our planet’s magnetic field enough to cause satellites to fall to Earth. Scientists warn that extreme geomagnetic storms could even paralyze the Internet.

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The largest solar storm in recent history was the Carrington Event of 1859, which released about as much energy as 10 billion one-megaton atomic bombs. When it hit Earth, the massive torrent of solar particles fried telegraph systems around the world and caused auroras brighter than a full moon to appear as far away as the Caribbean.

Scientists warn that if a similar event occurred today, it would cause trillions of dollars in damage, trigger widespread power outages and put thousands of lives at risk. A solar storm in 1989 unleashed a billion-ton plume of gas that caused a power outage across Quebec, according to NASA.

Solar storms typically go through a peak phase of the 11-year solar cycle. Some experts believe that this solar peak will occur in 2025, but the sun’s defiance of recent predictions has led others to believe that the maximum may already have occurred.

Scientists predict that solar activity will gradually increase over the next few years, reaching a maximum in 2025, after which it will begin to decline again.