Northern lights play over the USA

A G2-class (moderate) geomagnetic storm created Northern Lights over the upper-to-middle United States June 6 and 7 when the Earth passed through an area of south-pointing magnetism in the solar wind, according to spaceweather.com. Photographer Clay Bramhallwho captured an image from Goff, KS, that displayed the phenomenon. ‘The aurora surprised me,’ said Bramhallwho.

Clay Bramhallwho used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II to capture the northern lights over Kansas.

More aurorae could come over the evening of June 8 into the early morning of June 9, when a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) that left the Sun on June 5 is expected to strike the Earth’s magnetosphere, according to spaceweather.com, though the site is not clear whether any of the 48 states will be included at that time. 

Christian Begeman shot this image near Colton, South Dakota with a Canon 7D

Spaceweather.com is a great site to track incoming CMEs as well as passing satellites, meteors, and other interesting near-space phenomena, often with excellent accompanying images and diagrams. 

Click here to visit SpaceWeather.com

Click here to see SpaceWeather’s RealTime Image Gallery with more recent aurora shots

Comments

Skies too cloudy in NE USA during past two days and nights. Light “pollution” or crossing aircraft predominate unless one can be in a remote area. The Kansas and ND shots both show some glow from habitations. Tonight or tomorrow, their skies may be filled with clouds or lightning. Unless a farmer, it may not be easy to find a spot with a wide, open vista, except along roadways with traffic headlight interference, or patrol cars leery of midnight loiterers.

Arctic peoples (Canadians, Siberians, Alaskans, Finns) perhaps see the auroras as often as a full moon, from the comfort of their igloo windows.

“Photographers and star-gazers in the upper United States were treated to a rare display of Aurora Borealis”

So nobody in Canada could see it then?

We had a fantastic show here in south east Manitoba. Wondered if anyone else managed to see it. Saw it about midnight CDT.

Dick

Who cares if Canada saw it or not? Canada doesn’t exist in the collective consciousness.

reggiano, believe it or not, but there is a whole world out there beyond the borders of the usa. You might want to have a look out there sometime.

I know, just came back from Europe, and was in Northern Africa and Turkey last year. But Canada is a fly-over country.

You’re totally right.
It’s much better to live in “the land of the free”…
…read any newspaper headlines recently?

The gist of the story being that it is extremely rare to see an aurora this far south (hint: Northern Lights).

Of course, it was cloudy in the NE. Haven’t seen aurora at 42 deg. N. since 2005.

Any chance it will hit Portland area Oregon?