How long will the northern lights be visible in New Mexico?

The northern lights — in magenta, fuchsia and emerald-green hues — lit up skies across much of the United States on Tuesday night, including as far south as New Mexico and Florida.

A flood of northern lights photos filled social media as residents shared a sight often unseen in warmer climates.

How do the lights appear and how long will they be visible to residents in southern states?

What causes the northern lights?

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, occur when electrons from space collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Tuesday's light show was triggered by three coronal mass ejections — massive bursts of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun — that erupted late last week.

Those ejections caused a severe geomagnetic storm on Earth, measured as a G4, one level away from being the most powerful solar storm. This is the fourth G4 storm rating NOAA has issued since 2019, according to Mike Bettwy, operations chief of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.

Bettwy said the reason there has been an increase in rare geomagnetic storms is because the sun is reaching the end of its 11-year cycle, causing coronal mass ejections and solar flares to increase.

As the ejected charged particles reach Earth, they transfer energy to atmospheric gases. When those gases return to a lower energy state, they release light, creating the glowing bands of color in the night sky.

Different atmospheric gases and energy levels produce different colors, NOAA said. Pale green is the most common hue, similar to what many New Mexicans saw Tuesday night.

Geomagnetic storms can also disrupt satellites, GPS and radio communications, NOAA said.

How and where can you see the lights?

NOAA said the third and final solar ejection is expected to reach Earth on Wednesday night, potentially sparking another display of lights.

"It is difficult to predict with a high degree of certainty or precision, but it is possible this will be as impactful as last night's event," Bettwy said Wednesday morning.

While unlikely, Bettwy said there is a possibility for one more light display Thursday night.

NOAA recommends finding a dark, open area with an unobstructed view toward the north. The best viewing window is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Possible viewing spots near Albuquerque include: the Sandia Peak, Chaco Canyon and the Jemez Mountains.

For those who can’t see the lights with the naked eye, Bettwy suggests using a smartphone camera.

"We always encourage folks to get away from city lights and to use their smartphone to take pictures of the sky," he said. "The cameras on today's smartphones are so powerful that they can often "see" auroras that are not visible to the naked eye."

In order to get a photo of the lights, experts recommended adjusting the exposure to the maximum duration, disabling the flash and enabling night mode. Manual setting on phones can be adjusted to better capture the lights.

Send us your photos

Did you capture an awesome image of the northern lights from New Mexico? Send a photo, along with your full name for credit, to web@abqjournal.com and we'll add to a gallery online and possibly in the print edition.

Northern lights in New Mexico: Photos