Best Photos from This Weekend's Extraordinary Northern Lights

Photo: surangastock/Depositphotos (Not a photo of the actual current event.)

When you think about viewing the Northern Lights, places like Iceland, Norway, and Alaska come to mind. But people living much farther south got a treat on Friday when a severe geomagnetic storm made the aurora visible across the United States, Europe, and even New Zealand as Southern Lights.

The internet began lighting up with incredible photos of the phenomenon, as many were amazed by what they witnessed. “Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country?” wrote an amazed X (formerly Twitter) user from Scotland.

So what is a geomagnetic storm, and why did it push this dazzling light show so far south? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines a geomagnetic storm as “a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere.” In this case, the disturbance was caused by explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Researchers saw at least seven CMEs on May 10 when NOAA released a geomagnetic storm warning.

The storm peaked on Friday evening when it reached an extreme level known as G5. This is the first time this has occurred since October 2023. Aside from sparking Northern Lights in unusual places, this type of storm can also disrupt satellites, power grids, and other means of communication.

The solar flares responsible for the storms come from a cluster of sunspots 17 times larger than Earth. The area started acting up last Wednesday and remained active over the weekend. If you couldn't see this aurora for yourself, keep scrolling to see some of the best images of the historic event. And, if you live in the United States, bookmark this aurora dashboard to see when they may be visible again.

An extreme geomagnetic storm made the Northern Lights visible in large parts of Europe and the United States.

– Comme si vous y étiez en accéléré !
Timelapse d'une heure – Mont Saint-Michel – Nuit du 10 au 11 Mai 2024
ℎ / Tous Droits Réservés#aurore #auroreboreale #france #northernlights #aurores #nuit pic.twitter.com/ipL1k9onGr

— Mathieu Rivrin – Photographies (@mathieurivrin) May 11, 2024

Strongest aurora in 20 years this evening.

This is the astounding view as far south as Switzerland a short while ago …on top of Jungfraujoch

via https://t.co/XN8jh4HhE1 pic.twitter.com/kQMxGYa6LE

— Matt Taylor (@MetMattTaylor) May 10, 2024

Here are some of our favorite photos of the auroras captured from around the web.

Netherlands

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A post shared by Albert Dros (@albertdrosphotography)

Canada – Banff National Park

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A post shared by Herry Himanshu (@herry.with.an.e)

United Kingdom

Incredible! ☀️️
The Solar geomagnatic storm triggered Northern Lights over the UK as we flew over London at mid night on Friday #solarstorm #Auroraborealis #aurora … pic.twitter.com/F4DoFsM0Cd

— Joseph Alsousou (@JosephAlsousou) May 11, 2024