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A solar outburst sparked surprising displays of the northern lights as far south as Arkansas, Mississippi and North Carolina tonight, marking one of the farthest-reaching auroral shows in years.
As word spread about the geomagnetic storm, photos streamed onto the Web from the usual places, such as Norway, Sweden and Iceland, but also from locales that are typically too far south to see the northern lights: Oklahoma ... Kansas ... Kentucky ... Tennessee ... Virginia.
Among the websites tracking the fireworks are SpaceWeather.com, the Weather Channel and Universe Today.
Brian Emfinger / www.realclearwx.com
Photographer Brian Emfinger captured this view of the northern lights from a spot near Ozark, Ark.
Arkansas photographer Brian Emfinger was alerted to the northern lights by SpaceWeather.com's aurora alert. "I ran out and put my camera out and immediately saw reddish aurora," he wrote. "I ran out into the field, and within a few minutes the aurora went crazy!"
Randy Halverson / Dakotalapse.com
Photographer Randy Halverson saw a beautiful green and red aurora over Wisconsin.
Photographer Randy Halverson captured a whole string of auroral pictures from a vantage point west of Madison, Wis., with his 16-year-old son, River. Father and son were amazed to see how bright the lights were. "At one point they were so bright they lit up the ground," Randy wrote.
Richard Miller
Richard Miller was visiting Washington Court House, Ohio, when he snapped this picture of the reddish aurora.
Richard Miller, a resident of London, was visiting Washington Court House, Ohio, when he snapped a picture of the red glow over the neighborhood. "Seeing the Aurora Borealis on my family visit to Ohio made the trip one to remember," Miller told me in an email. "As an amateur astronomer, I've never seen anything like it before."
David DelaGardelle / maddwarfworkshop.com
David DelaGardelle snapped this picture of the northern lights as he was heading home from his Indiana workshop.
David DelaGardelle, who's a full-time blacksmith/swordmaker/artisan in Indiana, was driving home from his Mad Dwarf Workshop when he saw the spectacle. He said he was awestruck by the sight of "blood-red northern lights aflame in the night sky."
Jeff Berkes
Pennsylvania photographer Jeff Berkes captured a quick image of the auroral glow.
Jeff Berkes, a Pennsylvania photographer who shared a photo of the Orionid meteor shower with us earlier today, also sent in a quick snapshot of the northern lights. "They were only out for a few minutes, and I was only able to get off five shots, two of which were blurry from the car shaking," he wrote in an email.
The cause of the show was a coronal mass ejection from the sun that hit Earth's magnetosphere at about 2 p.m. ET, SpaceWeather.com reported.
The impact caused a strong compression in the magnetic field, allowing electrically charged particles from the solar wind to penetrate down to geosynchronous orbit (22,000 miles or 35,000 kilometers in altitude). That means Earth-orbiting satellites could have been exposed to the solar storm, analysts said.
Solar activity is on the upswing toward an expected peak of the sun's 11-year cycle in 2013, and the past few months have been marked by strong auroral activity. Here's a picture of an aurora as seen from the International Space Station on Sept. 29 as it flew over the midwestern United States.
Consult NASA's Earth Observatory website to get your bearings, and watch this QuickTime video for a moving experience of the space station's flyover:
NASA
This greenish auroral display was seen from the International Space Station on Sept. 29 as the orbital outpost was passing over the American Midwest. The city lights of Omaha, Des Moines, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago and St. Louis are visible below.
All these pictures may be pretty, but stronger solar storms can have a significant downside: They could disrupt satellite communication as well as power grids. There were no immediate indications that tonight's bout of space weather caused significant problems.
More auroral glories:
- Spaceships bask in aurora's glow
- Red sky at night, astronaut's delight
- Fly over the southern lights
- Beautiful blasts from solar storms
- Southern lights are sweeter in space
- Month in Space: Still more beautiful blasts
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding me to your Google+ circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
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Fascinating. some post monitor actually deleted posts here for a while and made comments as to why. First time I've seen that here. Either they got exasperated and gave up or were told to by higher ups
One has to wonder what the worst solar storm outbreak in the last ten thousand years was like and how long before it is repeated. DO things get completely fried every so often? Say 12/21/2012?
When all those cosmic magnetic fields align on 12/21/2012, will it cause a short circuit of some kind between the sun and the planets causing current to flow? That in turn causes the magnetiv poles to switch, the Easth grinds to a halt , the tectonic plates shift, and we reverse direction, all in a weeks time That's what happens when you reverse the magnetic poles in a motor- reversal
The Earth is a conductor with current flowing in it that is passing through a magnetic field known as the solar wind and rotates as a result. A MOTOR in other words
Good Morning,
I saw the post in regards to the northern lights. All my life I have been mystified by them. Surely a work of art. HOWEVER, I did not realize I was going to get a Wednesday class on God.
I wish that I would have been able to see them here in Texas, but the photographs taken by other members are just beautiful.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
Actually, I've literally met my demon, who was extremely reptilian and furious with me for praying the Holy Rosary. So, since I know he exists, he has proven to me that God exists. And God has blessed me immensely for my service to Him in Holy Mass.
This is a sign from God to repent. this is an abnormality people. The signs are everywhere. Just look into the sky. God is coming and this a a sign of the end times. It is predicted in the Bible that colors will cross the sky.
i know this was about the auroras but i think i read more about religion and beliefs , peoples opinions all which i respect . science there was some science talk as well . so i have a question? science and religion do they co exist already? seems here in this place it does . i have witnessed it . reading here all the comments . i have heard scientific definitions , as well as, religious explanations. i have read about how people feel about God and how some have more faith in science. both explanations and their feelings i respect. so what would happen i wonder if someday our scientists prove their is a God? then maybe we might find some answers to the age old question how did we get here? but until that happens let us all look to the sky , depend on the science , and in all our own ways hold on to our faith. and live together on our planet as long as it is here for us to do so. enjoy its beauty , fear its threats and just live your life as u all wish to . and no matter what u believe you are all unanimous in that the auroras are beautiful and an awesome thing to witness . hey be happy u all agreed on something.pat yourselves on the back .
You know, some of you people are totally nuts.
You can call it God, you can call it science, you can call it both.
Either way, it's a really beautiful sight to see. Shut up and enjoy it.
For those of you who claim to be Christian, a friend of mine says it best.
"God doesn't judge a man till after he's dead. Why should I be different?"
Let's have the theological debate later when we're reveling in the sight we've just seen.