Fans of the Northern Lights will have another chance to see them twinkling and dancing across the sky Tuesday night. The Space Weather Prediction Center predicts that the Northern Lights have the potential to put on a BIG show, based on the energy available.

People as far south as Northern Missouri could take in the Northern Lights Tuesday night. Meanwhile back here in Minnesota, if the sky remains clear there is potential for a great show! Check out the graphic that the Space Predictions Center has put out for tomorrow's potential 'light' show.

While the prediction center shows that the energy levels are right, there are other factors like the weather that can interfere with the people being able to see the twinkling and dancing streaks of green, red, and purple in the night sky.

According to Space.com the best time of year to experience the Northern Lights is between September and April, as the nights are generally 'darker'.

The best time of year to see the northern lights is between September and April, when the sky gets dark enough to see the aurora. - Space.com

What are the Northern Lights?

The BBC has a great infographic article about the Northern Lights, and their description of what causes the Northern Lights is perfect.

Both the Northern and Southern Lights are caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. They occur around the North Pole when the solar wind carrying the particles interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field. The most impressive auroras occur when the Sun emits really large clouds of particles called "coronal mass ejections". "Picture this as a big sneeze by the Sun," says Dr Affelia Wibisono, from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. "It can contain up to a million tonnes of charged particles.”

I just love the analogy of the sun sneezing and the bi-product of these beautiful celestial lights.

Where should I go to see the lights?

Away from the cities, personally when we are looking to catch the light show we head north, towards the family farm where there aren't lights on, and you don't have many cars traveling through the area either.

If you are looking for a good spot, you can use this search, which lets you know where some of the best 'dark' places are around.