The red and pink streaks of the Northern Lights made a rare U.S. appearance Monday, delighting sky watchers in the southeastern part of the country. According to ABC News, the Aurora Borealis was caused after Earth’s magnetic field was hit by a coronal mass ejection at about 2 p.m. Eastern time.
States that caught a glimpse of the elusive shy show included Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina. Viewers as far away as Chicago also claimed to see the Northern Lights.
The spectacle was somewhat of a surprise to experts, who expected the appearance a little later. The National Weather Service Space Weather Prediction Center, for example, said the coronal mass ejection arrived about eight hours earlier than their model guidance had predicted.
And the sight was a powerful one. According to Geir Oye, an observer from Norway, these Northern Lights were among the brightest ever seen.
“These are the strongest and most beautiful auroras I’ve ever seen,” Oye told spaceweather.com. “I can only imagine what the display must have been further north.”
According to Space.com, the Northern Lights are caused by a wave of charged particles unleashed by a large sun storm Saturday. The particles took two days to reach earth, the National Weather Service said.
