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\n The aurora borealis lit up the night sky over Monroe, Wis., on Tuesday night. The northern lights were visible as far south as Alabama and Florida<\/p>\n
Ross Harried\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n
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Ross Harried\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Geomagnetic storms brought the northern lights to much of the U.S. this week, painting the sky in vibrant hues of green and pink.<\/p>\n
The Aurora Borealis was spotted in a large swath of states, including Idaho<\/a>, Iowa<\/a>, Missouri<\/a>, New Mexico<\/a>, New York<\/a>, Oklahoma<\/a>, South Dakota<\/a>, Tennessee<\/a>, Texas<\/a> and Washington<\/a> state. Northern lights were visible as far south as parts of Florida<\/a> and Alabama<\/a>, a relatively rare<\/a> occurrence that highlights the severity of this week’s storms.<\/p>\n “Well, we had activity tonight \u2014 a lot of geomagnetic storm activity,” Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, said in a video on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n The aurora borealis glows above rural Monroe County, Wis., as a strong geomagnetic storm from recent solar activity pushes the northern lights unusually far south on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Jeremy Hogan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n hide caption\n <\/p>\n toggle caption<\/p>\n Jeremy Hogan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n A geomagnetic storm<\/a> happens when charged particles from the sun’s atmosphere interact with the Earth’s magnetic field. In addition to creating dazzling displays of color<\/a>, such storms can disrupt technology<\/a> on Earth, from satellites and GPS to radio communications and the power grid.<\/p>\n The activity was the result of a phenomenon called coronal mass ejections<\/a> (CMEs), massive blasts of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s outer atmosphere that grow in size as they hurtle towards Earth.<\/p>\n Two CMEs arrived on Earth on Tuesday, Dahl said.<\/p>\n \n The aurora borealis lights up the night sky east of Denver on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Trevor Hughes\/USA TODAY Network via Reuters<\/p>\n hide caption\n <\/p>\n toggle caption<\/p>\n Trevor Hughes\/USA TODAY Network via Reuters<\/p>\n The resulting storm reached G4 levels<\/a>, the second-highest on NOAA’s five-step scale, and created a magnetic field that was “not only eight times stronger than what’s normal but \u2026 also favorable for continued activity,” Dahl said in a later update<\/a>.<\/p>\n “That was the most energetic and strongest of this activity out there in space,” Dahl said. “It was traveling significantly faster than these other two, and we think that’s going to pack even a stronger punch than what we’ve already experienced.”<\/p>\n The Space Weather Prediction Center says<\/a> the aurora may become visible “over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California.”<\/p>\n The Met Office<\/a>, the U.K.’s national weather service, said the aurora may also be visible over parts of Britain on Wednesday night, though it is likely to be obscured by cloud cover \u2014 as was the case in Michigan<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Luckily, Americans in northern states won’t have to wait long for another chance to get a glimpse.<\/p>\n \n NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center “aurora viewline forecast” shows the swath of the northern U.S. in which the northern lights might be visible on Wednesday.<\/p>\n NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center<\/p>\n hide caption\n <\/p>\n toggle caption<\/p>\n NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center<\/p>\n How to see (and photograph!) the northern lights\u00a0 <\/p>\n A dark setting is essential to see the aurora, so it’s important to get away from light pollution if you want a good glimpse of the northern lights. It’ll be easiest to see between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, according to NOAA.<\/p>\n \n A person watches the northern lights over Hulah Lake in northern Oklahoma on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Andy Dossett\/USA TODAY Network via Reuters<\/p>\n hide caption\n <\/p>\n toggle caption<\/p>\n Andy Dossett\/USA TODAY Network via Reuters<\/p>\n![\"What](\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2021\/06\/09\/gettyimages-844052000_sq-19c5ec9c80f285febe295dbd940080bcc2b2d916.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg\")
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