Skywatchers across the northern United States could see an unusually broad display of aurora borealis this week after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center forecast a minor (G1) geomagnetic storm from late Monday through Wednesday. The agency expects the planetary K-index to reach 5 as a high-speed solar-wind stream from a coronal hole, augmented by a possible glancing coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Aug. 17, interacts with Earth’s magnetic field. If skies are clear, the lights may be visible in up to 16 states including Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, New York and northern New England. NOAA says the best chance falls between about 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, and recommends viewing from dark, north-facing locations to minimise light pollution. Cloud cover across parts of the Midwest could limit visibility, but the agency’s short-term aurora dashboard will provide real-time updates. Before dawn, a separate spectacle unfolds: a rare six-planet alignment that peaks on Wednesday, Aug. 20, the best such view until 2039. Mercury—fresh from its greatest western elongation on Aug. 19—joins a slender 9 percent-lit waning crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter low in the eastern sky about an hour before sunrise, while Saturn sits higher to the south. Uranus and Neptune are also in the line-up but will require optical aid. After this week, Saturn, Jupiter and Venus will remain prominent, but Mercury will slip back into the Sun’s glare and a comparable multi-planet ‘parade’ will not recur until October 2028. NOAA adds that heightened solar activity tied to the current solar maximum should keep chances for further auroral outbreaks elevated through 2026.