The plasma is coming.

A massive solar storm is ejecting massive streams of radiation, which may intersect Earth this weekend. If that happens, people as far south as Alabama may experience a generational display of aurora borealis, also known as northern lights. 

Staffers at Rogerdier.com photographed the sun this afternoon. “I’ve never seen sunspots this size,” said Roger Dier. “You could fit dozens of earths inside the largest group.”

NBC News spoke with Shawn Dahl, a service coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. “We have a rare event on our hands,” Dahl said. “We’re a little concerned. We haven’t seen this in a long time.”

The poles at the center of Earth’s magnetic field act as lightening rods, drawing the sun’s electromagnetic charged particles. Without Earth’s magnetic poles, solar mass ejections like the one headed our way over time likely would destroy all life forms on our planet. When Mars lost its magnetic field, for example, whatever kinds of life trying to take hold there were at the mercy of coronal mass ejections of radiation from the sun.

If your sky is clear and you’re able to avoid light pollution, the light show should start Friday between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. CDST. The northern lights may also be visible Saturday and Sunday.