Current:Home > FinanceRed and green swirls of northern lights captured dancing in Minnesota sky: Video -Wealth Momentum Network
Red and green swirls of northern lights captured dancing in Minnesota sky: Video
View
Date:2025-04-21 13:45:50
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! (412)
Related
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Chocolate Easter bunnies made with ecstasy seized at Brussels airport: It's pure MDMA
- Angela Bassett's Stylist Jennifer Austin Reveals the Secrets to Dressing For Black Tie Events
- An Economist's Advice On Digital Dependency
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Reporters Reveal 'Ugly Truth' Of How Facebook Enables Hate Groups And Disinformation
- Antisemitic Posts Are Rarely Removed By Social Media Companies, A Study Finds
- See The Crown's Twist on Prince William and Kate Middleton's College Meeting
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- China's early reaction to U.S.-Taiwan meeting is muted, but there may be more forceful measures to come
Ranking
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- There's A Way You Can Beat The Best Investors. You've Just Got To Know When To Sell
- 18 Amazon Picks To Help You Get Over Your Gym Anxiety And Fear Of The Weight Room
- Why It Took 13 Years to Get Avatar: The Way of Water Into Theaters
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- OnlyFans Says It Will Ban Sexually Explicit Content
- Rape Accusations At Alibaba Bring China's #MeToo Movement Back Into The Spotlight
- Paul Cattermole of British pop group S Club 7 dies at 46
Recommendation
San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
The MixtapE! Presents Tim McGraw, Becky G, Maluma and More New Music Musts
A Look at All the Celeb Couples Who Had to Work Together After Breaking Up
Reporters Reveal 'Ugly Truth' Of How Facebook Enables Hate Groups And Disinformation
Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
Biden administration blames Trump in part for chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal
McCarthy meets with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen in California over objections from China
Raise a Glass to the 2023 Oscars With These Award-Worthy Drink Recipes