A solar storm revealed the magical illumination of the aurora borealis across the United States on Thursday evening as the celestial event hit Earth.
The aurora borealis – also known as the aurora borealis – is a natural display of light in the night sky, most often observed in the aurora borealis zone – a region within 2,550 miles of the North Pole.
This phenomenon occurs when charged particles from the Sun strike directly into the Earth's magnetic field. The reaction transforms the dark sky into one that vibrates with swirling curtains of colored lights, including green, pink, red, yellow, blue and purple.
Typically, the lights can only be seen in areas including Scandinavia, Alaska and Iceland. However, the timing of the solar storm on Thursday provided a beautiful spectacle not only for Europe but also for North America.
The Northern Lights were visible in Key Largo, Florida, on Thursday evening
User X captured the northern lights in front of the Capitol building in Washington
New York he managed to see a streak of color in the night sky.
On social media, people as far away as Washington, DC and Kentucky could also see neon pink and hazy purple skies, The New York Times reported.
“I'm just shocked that it took me my whole life to realize this,” Gabriela Aguilar, 37, of New York, told The New York Times.
When she walked up to the roof of her Harlem apartment building with her dog, she could watch the sky turn pink, purple and green.
“And – of all places – I will see it in New York!” she added.
The light show began with a solar storm – a sudden explosion of particles, energy, magnetic gels and matter ejected into the solar system by the Sun, NASA reported.
Earth's protective magnetic bubble was momentarily disrupted and the fast-moving ejecta slammed into the planet at nearly 1.5 million miles per hour, Washington Post. reported.
The Northern Lights were captured in Lexington, Kentucky after a severe solar storm
The shade of purple and green curtains of light was captured in Zimmerman, Minnesota
Residents of Salida, Colorado, witnessed pink and purple skies following a solar storm
When solar particles interact with gases in the Earth's atmosphere, such as nitrogen and oxygen atoms, colored lights appear in the sky, causing twilight.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration classified the recent storm as “severe,” rating it a four out of five.
If the storm reached “extreme strength” – a level that has only been seen twice in the past two decades – it could be visible to the naked eye as far south as Florida.
The storm could last through Friday morning, but is expected to weaken to “severe” or even “moderate” levels.
A storm, or coronal mass ejection, hits the Earth and brings an influx of energy and particles.
The event could potentially cause disruptions to power, GPS and communications systems, the New York City Department of Emergency Management said in a post on X.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration classified the recent storm as “severe,” rating it a four out of five
The storm could last through Friday morning, but is expected to weaken to “severe” or even “moderate” levels
Norway is one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights because it lies in the heart of the Northern Lights zone in the Norwegian Arctic
But despite the disruption, the department suggested that New Yorkers shouldn't really worry.
The solar storm hit Earth about 14 hours after Hurricane Milton hit Florida on Wednesday evening, potentially impacting some recovery efforts.
Emergency response, including communications systems that depend on low-Earth orbit satellites or high-frequency communications, pose the risk of impacting power grids that have already been weakened by hurricanes and further disrupting navigation systems, The Washington Post added.
During previous severe solar storms, aircraft were diverted due to radio signal interference. Some GPS systems have lost accuracy. The satellites were placed in emergency mode and successfully removed from orbit.
However, NOAA's Weather Prediction Center has already made contact with several state agencies involved in recovery operations.
Either way, thousands of Americans witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the aurora borealis.
People rushed to X to share photos of the rare phenomenon.
The photos were taken in dozens of states across the country, and they all seem slightly different, but no less beautiful than the last.
