Thenorthern lightsilluminated night skies around the world last night, including across eastern and southern parts of the United States that rarely see the phenomenon.
Stunning purple, pink and green skies were seen in New York, Maine, Connecticut, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Oct. 10, according to social media accounts, while the lights — also known as aurora borealis — were also spotted in Texas and Florida.
The National Weather Service in New York showed off thepink skiesoutside their office. Employees of the agency’s branch in Lubbock, West Texas, were also delighted with pink and green skies.
The northern lights are often not visible as far south as the Lone Star State.
The spectacle was on display thanks to a severe “geomagnetic storm,’ according to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA).
On Wednesday, Oct. 9, NOAA wrote in an update, “The aurora may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California.”
The northern lights seen in New York.Roy Rochlin/Getty
Roy Rochlin/Getty
However, NOAA also warned that the storm could disrupt modern technology.
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The nothern lights in Winsconsin.Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty
Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty
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Per the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, a severe geomagnetic storm is “a major disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field; often varying intensity between lower levels and severe storm conditions over the course of the entire event.”
Auroro borealis in Sugarloaf Key, Florida.Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
The U.S. wasn’t the only place where the northern lights were visible, with Australia, the U.K., China, Canada and Germany also seeing the illuminations.
Aurora was also visible in the U.S. in May, July and September, and the lights have become increasingly visible in 2024 due to the storm, which according to Sean Elvidge, a professor in space environment at the University of Birmingham, per theBBC, is the biggest geomagnetic storm since 2003.
source: people.com