You never forget your first aurora; it’s an awe-inspiring experience! But not everyone who loves the aurora gets to see it often. One reason collaborations between aurora scientists and aurora chasers are so strong is that each brings different knowledge to the study of the northern and southern lights. Many aurora scientists have not had the opportunity to see the aurora in person, let alone regularly. So what’s it like to have made a science career related to the northern and southern lights and finally get to see it for the first time? In this post, we bring you reflections from NASA space weather analyst Carina Alden on her first aurora sighting this past month.
As someone who professionally stares (safely) at the sun all day, it was hard to believe I had never seen the aurora. I monitor the sun for eruptions, measure said eruptions, follow up by modeling and documenting the eruptions and their impacts, and if necessary notify NASA human and robotic missions. But living in Maryland, I’d need a strong storm to see aurora with the naked eye this far south. So after analyzing the May storms, knowing they were going to be impressive, and then missing them due to clouds, I felt a bit like I might have missed my one chance to see the northern lights this solar cycle. Fortunately for me, the Sun had other ideas!
After a trip to a friend’s wedding in South Dakota this August, my friends and I began a 17-hour overnight drive back to Michigan. Dusk fell pretty quickly and soon we were driving through Minnesota in the dark. As someone who works in space weather, I was well aware of the possibilities of seeing the northern lights around August 11. I’m not sure what prompted me, but I decided to check the Space Weather Live app to see if there were good viewing chances. Sure enough, I saw that Kp was at 6 and ground-based magnetometers were disturbed. I called up to my friend who was driving to ask if he could see anything. Through my tinted window, all I could see was what appeared to be fog, but in the sky.
“Can you see anything? It looks kinda cloudy to me.”
“Nope, I can see stars—I don’t think it’s cloudy.”
My heart started beating fast. “Really??” I frantically fumbled for my phone. “I’ll take a picture through the window to check!”
“HOLY…IT’S THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!”
As my panic and excitement continued, my friend asked whether he should pull over on the side of the road. I was so focused I couldn’t hear him, but thankfully, my other friend urged him to pull over on the small highway in Michigan. I couldn’t believe it: I was FINALLY going to see the northern lights! Remembering the amazing aurora photographers I admire, I quickly tried to open my camera bag and get it ready but suddenly realized that since this wasn’t what I normally photographed, I had no idea what settings to use. Instead, I rolled down my window and started snapping pictures with my phone, punctuated with exclamations as the aurora took my breath away.
Around 10pm CDT, we pulled over just in time to watch the first active display occur. I watched as the faint pillars got brighter, tinted red and green to the naked eye. It was INCREDIBLE—I couldn’t believe it! We spent an hour watching Lady Aurora dance slowly across the northern horizon before setting off again. The aurora was still going, but it had retreated a bit and become more “blobby” to the eye. I left the window down and stuck my head out into the cool air as we continued driving, watching the lights as we raced through the night. My excitement was infectious, and the friend who was not driving was fiddling with her Android settings to take her own photos.
We only made it down the road a bit to around St. Cloud, Minnesota, before the aurora started to brighten. We stopped again to watch extremely bright green swirls with faint pillars. There was a moment in which I wondered whether I was catching a glimpse of STEVE, but it just turned out to be a strange-looking pink pillar in the middle of the aurora. My friends were excited, but I wished I had other aurora chasers there with me who also understood how unique this event was. I was grateful that Tanya Melnik of the Upper Midwest Aurora Chasers saw my tweets at midnight and helped me track the data, sharing her view of the overhead aurora with me. I can only imagine how much fun it would’ve been to be with chasers familiar with the ways different phenomena dance. As it was, my group continued driving while watching the lights. Then, looking out the window, I noticed the beginning of the second active display.
And… oh my gosh. The aurora was completely OVERHEAD, in MINNESOTA!! I couldn’t believe it!! It took a brilliant overhead form called the corona, and was pulsating and flickering. As it rapidly brightened, the aurora painted HUGE pillars, miles high. The colors were incredible: purples, reds, and the brightest greens. I felt amazed, thankful, grateful, and even shocked, watching in disbelief. It’s hard to explain the euphoria of it all; it’s one thing to see pictures and hear about it, but something else entirely to witness the aurora with your own eyes.
I felt truly blessed and thankful to have been there witnessing it. We pulled over once more around 1am and sat leaning out the windows of our car, just staring straight up at the aurora. When we continued, I watched out the window until the aurora faded into the bright lights of Minneapolis. When I reflect on the experience I can’t help but think that my grandma, who had passed a week before, helped me see my first aurora.
As someone who studies space weather and how it causes the aurora, I spend a lot of time examining data. But seeing it in person, there were a number of things that surprised me:
- How fast and dynamic it could be. The active displays were strong, but fleeting.
- How much color you could see, especially during the most active times. I was under the impression you couldn’t see any color or that it was really faint. It would be hard to tell, and that can be true sometimes—but this time, I got lucky. It was incredible to see it get brighter and pinker. The moon had a pink hue to it during the quieter times, when a less active aurora retreated to the horizon before returning to dance. It was SO cool to see!
- How sharp pillars look to the naked eye. They had a color tint to them, but they looked like a physical wall you could walk into.
- The size of it all: I couldn’t believe how wide and how much of the sky the aurora could take up, even before it went overhead. It was impressive how much of the night sky it consumed.
- As we drove into St. Cloud and then Minneapolis we missed some of the more exciting aurora storms due to light pollution, but we also wanted to be sure we drove safely!
I’m so thankful for what I saw. I can’t wait to sort through my photos and make an Aurorasaurus report; I FINALLY get to contribute to something I’ve known of and been part of since 2017-2018. I’ve definitely been bitten by the bug and can’t wait to see the Northern Lights again! There truly isn’t anything quite like it.
