Last week was a pretty incredible week for the northern lights! The lights were easily visible and super bright almost every night throughout the week. These lights were not trigged by a Coronal Mass Ejection on the sun, however, which is how most strong aurora events are generated.
According to spaceweather.com, the lights were caused by the "Russell-McPherson effect". During the weeks around equinoxes, the magnetic field of the sun can connect to the magnetic field of Earth, a linkage that allows solar wind to enter Earth's magnetosphere. That connection alone can power dazzling auroras - no CME required.
I went out with my cameras on 3 of the nights last week, taking a day of rest in between each night of viewing and photographing the lights. It sure was fun to see them come out so much during what had to be one of the nicest fall weather weeks we've ever experienced in northeast Minnesota!
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