Rare 'Cannibal CME' may trigger northern lights show Tuesday evening
Best chance to see northern lights away from city lights across northern half of Minnesota.
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Heads up, Minnesota. Literally.
A northern lights show is possible Tuesday evening in the skies above us.
It’s always difficult to precisely forecast northern lights, but some of the elements appear to be in place Tuesday evening. You may want to look outside between dusk and midnight to see if there’s a show.
Sunspot region 4274 on the sun is active and facing earth. That region has sent a wave of so called coronal mass ejections (CME’s) toward earth.
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Multiple bursts of solar energy can merge and create what’s referred to as a “cannibal CME” where one wave basically absorbs (eats) another. The result can be a stronger pulse heading toward earth.
The best chance for seeing northern lights Tuesday evening is across northern regions into Canada.
So it’s not a sure thing, but you may want to take a look or two outside to the north Tuesday evening before midnight. Strong northern lights shows can be seen in the city, but it’s always best to get away from city light, especially to your northern horizon.
If the inbound CME reacts with earth’s magnetosphere in the right way, the result can be vivid northern lights displays. Colors can vary depending on which atoms get triggered by the solar energy. Here’s a description from space.com about why auroras turn different colors.
Green auroras are typically produced when charged particles collide with high concentrations of oxygen molecules in Earth's atmosphere at altitudes of around 60 to 190 miles (100 to 300 kilometers), according to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
We also see green auroras better than any other color, as the human eye is most sensitive to the green color spectrum.
Red auroras are comparatively less frequent and are usually associated with intense solar activity.
They occur when solar particles react with oxygen at higher altitudes, generally around 180 to 250 miles (300 to 400 km), according to the CSA.
At this height, oxygen is less concentrated and is excited at a higher frequency or wavelength, making reds visible. Red auroras are often seen at the higher edges of the display.
Blue and purple auroras are even less common and also tend to appear during periods of high solar activity.
These colors are produced when solar particles collide with nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 60 miles or less, according to aurora travel company The Aurora Zone.
Blue and purple auroras tend to be visible toward the lower parts of the display.
Skies should be clear across most of Minnesota, but some clouds will likely linger in the northeast Tuesday evening. Here’s NOAA’s FV3 cloud forecast for 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Good luck!
