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NEWS
Northern lights may be visible in New Mexico Monday night
Residents may be able to see red hue along horizon, meteorologists say
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Traveling through space from about 93 million miles away, particles from the sun will hit the Earth's atmosphere Monday night, setting off a dazzling light show rarely seen outside the more northern reaches of the country.
The phenomena, called the northern lights, will be visible in much of the United States Monday night and early Tuesday evening, though they likely will appear only faintly in much of New Mexico.
The lights are expected to manifest as a reddish hue along the northern horizon, according to meteorologists at the Albuquerque National Weather Service office.
To see the aurora borealis, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recommends finding a dark section of sky, away from city lights, and waiting for the typical peak, which comes between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Like auroras seen by New Mexicans in November, the lights may not be visible to the naked eye and require brightening features on cell phones or cameras to capture.
The lights are the result of a strong explosion from the sun's surface on Sunday, according to NOAA. Particles from that explosion will collide with Earth's atmosphere and generate a geomagnetic storm that the agency rated as a 4 out of 5 on its space weather scale.
As a result, the lights will be visible from California to as far south as Alabama.
Gillian Barkhurst is the local government reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com or on Twitter @G_Barkhurst.
