Rare 'cannibal' solar event to unleash widespread aurora across 22 US states

One of the rare occurrences in the sky will be visible as the Northern Lights across a large area of the United States on Tuesday night, November 11, 2025. 

A major coronal mass ejection (CME) from cannibal is expected to hit Earth's atmosphere, causing a major geomagnetic storm visible across 22 US states.

A geomagnetic storm of G3 strength is predicted to occur on the night of November 11 through the morning of November 12, as per a storm watch warning issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

This is because two CME clouds of solar plasma erupted by the sun during the weekend have collided with each other due to their movement through space.

A CME that is more rapid (the second) will then come over and cannibalise the first one, forming a more substantial total shock wave upon collision with the magnetic field of Earth.

It is expected that this interaction will drive the auroral oval abnormally southwards.

States in the upper tier, across the entire breadth of the lower Midwest, and even westward to Oregon, can observe the glittering green, red, and purple lights. It is likely to be most active between 10:00 p.m. EST Tuesday and 1:00 a.m. EST Wednesday; however, it may occur at any time.

The subsequent one in April 2025 was the last of such a cannibal CME, which triggered a severe G4 storm and increased auroras.

To have the highest likelihood of seeing, the experts suggest finding dark skies free of city lights and checking real-time aurora forecast applications and the 30-minute forecast from NOAA.