May 11 Auroras
Itasca County, Minnesota
Here is a quick pictoral summary of the auroras of May 10/11, 2024. I'll update this page when I have more time. Chris Wicklund has compiled a Google Map of aurora sightings from this event.
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| Over Cottonwood Lake, the auroras are visible when twilight was still pretty bright. |
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| The auroras drift straight overhead and form what's known as a corona. |
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| A multiple-colored corona appeared right away. |
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| Looking east-northeast over Cottonwood Lake. |
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| Looking northwest over Cottonwood Lake. |
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| Looking east-northeast over Cottonwood Lake. |
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| This is one of my last shots from Cottonwood Lake. The auroras are getting south of me, and this spot did not have a great south view. |
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| The auroras retreat to the south. |
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| The relatively quiet phase: a single, green band, but there are some other colors starting . |
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| The beginning of a substorm. |
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| A substorm starts over Deer Lake. |
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| Looking straight up on County Road 19 between Deer and Moose lakes. |
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| Looking east-southeast over Deer Lake. |
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| Looking northeast between Deer and Moose lakes. |
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| This aurora is shaped like the base of an LP supercell. |
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| Looking north over Moose Lake. This is as far north as the auroras got all night. |
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| Diffuse band but with some small structures. |
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| Some narrow ribbons and different colors looking straight up. |
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| Multiple sub-bands within the main green band. |
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| More colors and structure begin to appear, and the main green band is brightening. |
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| Portrait mode showing the changes in color and structure at various levels in the sky. |
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| Reflections of the intensifying band over Deer Lake. |
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| It looks like we have all colors of the rainbow. |
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| Reflections of multiple colors in the lake. |
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| Looking south over Deer Lake. |
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| Looking southeast over Deer Lake. |
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| Looking south-southwest over Deer Lake. |
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| A car lights up the foreground. |
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| Peak intensity. |
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| Intense blues over Deer Lake. |
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| Multiple colors in the corona. |
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| Don't stare at this too long, or it will pull you in. |
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| Multiple colors over Cottonwood Lake. |
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| Cottonwood Lake. |
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| Looking north over Cottonwood Lake. |
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| Looking north over Moose Lake. |
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| Solar wind parameters during the G5 storming event. Bz (red line, top plot) was as far south as I've ever seen it. -50nT minimum. |
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| LASCO C3 imagery of the coronado mass ejections that made for a G5 geomagnetic storm. |