December 11, 2025 Auroras

Chisholm, Minnesota

A late CME hit Earth in the late afternoon, puishing Bz into the negative teens. I had some work to do and some skiing to do after that, and there were clouds in the area, but clouds were not that extensive, so when I was done with both work and skiing, I took a drive to the northeast to escape the clouds and get into clear skies. I got to Hibbing (only about 25 minute drive from where I had been skiing) and found clear skies. However, I needed to drive a little farther to get away from the city lights, so I took Highway 73 to the north, through Chisholm.

Given the strongly southward Bz, I was expecting to find fairly bright, extensive auroras the moment I saw clearing, but that was not the case. Given it's near the solstice, I thought maybe I had to look a bit closer to the northern horizon to see anything, but I peered in that direction and could see nothing. Instead, as I was exiting Hibbing toward Chisholm, I caught sight of a dim auroral arc very high in the sky, almost overhead. As I got into Chisholm, I could see the first beads appearing in the arc. A substorm was beginning! I knew I had to expedite through town and get somewhere to shoot!

When I got out of downtown and could better see the night sky around me, I could see bright auroras emerging to the northeast. I needed to stop at the first location with a view. I found one about a mile outside of town. There were some flood lights around, but the auroras competed with their brightness, so I composed a scene and took a few shots. They worked!

Bright auroras over the Balkan Township office.

In fact, the brightness of the foreground pretty nicely matched the auroral light intensity. I'll have to look up the business when I have time and maybe send them a shot (it was the Balkan Township office).

Bright reds and greens expand.

A wide (15mm) portrait shot. The tallest red pillars here were looking straight up, directly over my head.

Auroras fill the northern half of the sky just north of Chisholm.

Auroras through the trees on a forest road north of Chisholm.

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Auroras on Highway 73 north of Chisholm.

Slightly farther south on 73, I wider view in a bog.

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