Current:Home > NewsRed and green swirls of northern lights captured dancing in Minnesota sky: Video -Infinite Edge Capital
Red and green swirls of northern lights captured dancing in Minnesota sky: Video
View
Date:2025-04-18 03:07:35
A photographer in Minnesota was able to capture video of a mesmerizing northern lights display as swirls of red and green danced across the night sky.
Another geomagnetic storm made the colorful phenomena known as aurora borealis visible during the weekend across the Midwest region of the United States, and Carol Bauer was there to document it Sunday in Grand Marais.
“My husband and I traveled to Grand Marais to see the fall colors and were thrilled to get a great view of the northern lights too,” Bauer told Storyful.
Bauer is among millions of Americans who should expect to have more opportunities in the coming months to catch the striking display as the sun reaches the height of its 11-year cycle.
Watch the video Carol Bauer captured of the Northern Lights:
Northern lights visible across Midwest
Last week, a massive solar flare accompanied by coronal mass ejections – clouds of plasma and charged particles – made their way toward our planet, driving a geomagnetic storm that made the auroras visible in multiple northern U.S. states.
Though the the natural light display in Earth's sky is famously best seen in high-latitude regions of the northern and southern hemispheres, the northern lights became visible during the weekend across the U.S. In addition to Minnesota, the stunning display of rays, spirals and flickers could be seen in places along the U.S.-Canada border and even as far south as Oregon and Pennsylvania, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.
Peak northern lights activity:What to know as sun reaches solar maximum
Peak aurora activity to coincide with height of solar cycle
Fortunately for aurora chasers, there will be far more opportunities to catch the northern lights soon.
Electromagnetic activity is increasing as the sun continues to reach the height of its 11-year solar cycle, which NASA said is expected to be in 2025.
As the sun reaches the peak of Solar Cycle 25, sunspots located in regions of intense magnetic activity should increase, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. When that magnetic activity is released, it creates intense bursts of radiation resulting in solar flares hurtling toward Earth at the speed of light.
Some of these flares can be accompanied by coronal mass ejections that emerge from the sun's outermost atmosphere, the corona.
These ejections can collide with Earth’s magnetosphere, the barrier protecting humanity from the harshest impacts of space weather, to produce geomagnetic storms that unleash spectacular views of the northern lights in parts of the country where auroras are not often visible.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
veryGood! (87)
Related
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- A pregnant Ohio mother's death by police sparked outrage. What we know about Ta'Kiya Young
- No Black women CEOs left in S&P 500 after Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer resigns
- A Russian spacecraft crashed on the moon last month. NASA says it's discovered where.
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Burning Man 2023: With no estimate of reopening time, Burners party in the rain and mud
- ACC votes to expand to 18 schools, adding Stanford, California, SMU
- Russians press Ukraine in the northeast to distract from more important battles in counteroffensive
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, father of Dodi Al Fayed, dead at 94
Ranking
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- Adam Driver slams major studios amid strike at Venice Film Festival 'Ferrari' premiere
- Police search for suspect who shot and wounded person at Indiana shopping mall
- Manhunt for murderer Danelo Cavalcante enters second day after Pennsylvania prison escape
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- Stakes are high for Michigan Wolverines QB J.J. McCarthy after playoff appearance
- Taiwan suspends work, transport and classes as Typhoon Haikui slams into the island
- 50 Cent throws microphone into crowd, reportedly hitting concertgoer: Video
Recommendation
B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
Hear Tom Brady's Historic First Phone Call With the Patriots After Being Selected 199th in 2000 NFL Draft
90210’s Shenae Grimes Fires Back at Hateful Comments About Her Appearance
One dead, four injured in stabbings at notorious jail in Atlanta that’s under federal investigation
2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
Workplace safety officials slap Albuquerque, contractor with $1.1M fine for asbestos exposure
Whatever happened to the Ukrainian refugees who found a haven in Brazil?
AI project imagines adult faces of children who disappeared during Argentina’s military dictatorship