Last night, a fast Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) struck Earth’s magnetosphere, triggering a strong geomagnetic storm and some fantastic auroras.
I haven’t been keeping up with spaceweather news lately because I’ve been so busy at work, but numerous friends started messaging me around 10 pm, telling me to look up.
I felt too tired to go take photos, but I’d occasionally pop outside and walk to the end of the driveway. It was definitely a good show.
The planetary K-index, which measures the intensity of geomagnetic activity, was extremely high, near the top of the scale. Reports were coming in of aurora being seen far south of its usual range, including sightings as far south as Alabama.
So, I got dressed for real, grabbed my camera and tripod, and walked out the trails by my cabin.
When I first got to a spot with a clear view of the northern sky, I could see the aurora pulsating. Pulsating aurora like this usually occurs much later, often toward morning, after the most intense aurora activity has already passed.
This type of diffuse, patchy aurora is common in the hours after midnight as geomagnetic substorms move past. Instead of bright arcs or rays, the aurora breaks into softer patches that turn on and off on roughly a ten-second cycle. The changes are subtle in real time and often feel almost static when you’re standing there watching. But last night it was happening at 11:30 pm.
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Here’s a timelapse I made of pulsating aurora (from a long time ago):
The pulsating didn’t last long before the aurora started acting up again. Numerous bands appeared on the northern horizon (cover photo) and started slowly crawling across the sky overhead, and continuing south.
After this, the northern lights faded for the better part of an hour. I took a long walk along the trails before deciding to turn around, realizing I wouldn’t get back home until about 1 am.
Along the way, the sky did it all again, this time with bright rays appearing over the trees and even a brief corona display.
Activity will likely continue into tonight as well, so I’ll have to think about whether or not I want to do another late night when I know my body needs sleep. Finding the right balance can be so tough with nights like this.
Here’s my full photo gallery from the evening: January 19, 2026
