Last night, around 10:25 PM, the northern lights made a subtle appearance over Central Illinois. A faint red glow was visible to the naked eye for a brief period, adding an unexpected touch of color to the evening sky.
These northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with Earth’s atmosphere. Specifically, this display was triggered by a coronal mass ejection (CME), where the sun releases a large burst of solar wind and magnetic fields. When these particles reach Earth, they collide with atoms in our atmosphere, creating the beautiful colors we see in the sky.
However, the brightness of the moon may have made the display seem less intense than it could have been. The moonlight illuminated the sky, slightly washing out the vivid colors of the northern lights. Despite that, for those who caught it, the experience was still a rare and special sight in Central Illinois.
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