After weekend bust, northern lights put on an overnight show in Minnesota
After the massive solar flare wound up busting big-time northern lights potential over all of Minnesota last weekend, another geomagnetic storm fueled by the sun led to a dazzling display of the aurora borealis Wednesday night through Thursday morning.
It's unclear just how far south the spectacle was seen, but northern Minnesota definitely got a show. Numerous photos of the northern lights were sent to meteorologist Sven Sundgaard on Facebook and Twitter (see them below).
But perhaps the best way to relive the incredible experience that northernmost Minnesotans had is to watch back the livestream video from the University of North Dakota's aurora cam. You can literally see the colors dancing in the sky from about 11 p.m. Wednesday until 7 a.m. Thursday.
The northern lights were so bright that they could even be seen through the bright city lights at Canal Park in Duluth. Charles Howard Smith Photography posted a photo of the stunning view on Facebook.
The photos were sent to Sven from places like Ely, Balsam, Crosby, Northome, Grand Rapids, Cook and Thief River Falls.
So why the big show Wednesday night when the weekend was a whiff?
According to SpaceWeather.com, a sunspot ejected a coronal mass ejection (CME) towards Earth and ultimately "swallowed" another CME on its way. "The massed-up pair struck Earth on Nov. 3" and "sparked a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm with intense auroras around the Arctic Circle."
An aurora borealis tour guide from Norway told SpaceWeather.com that it was "one of the best displays in years."
The northern lights were seen as far south as places like Wright County and Princeton in east-central Minnesota, according to commenters on Sven's Facebook page.
