'Severe Geomagnetic Storm': Night Skies In North America Covered With Rare Beautiful Northern Lights

Social media is flooded with photos of videos of the aurora borealis seen in the skies of North America. Experts say the location of oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere determines the colours visible.

Social media flooded with photos of videos of the aurora borealis in US.

An unusual display of Northern Lights was seen in the skies of North America on Saturday night with hues of pink and purple along with green. According to the BBC, the event was categorised as a "severe geomagnetic storm" due to a large hole in the sun's corona that seriously damaged the Earth's magnetic field. 

According to the BBC, from California to New York, the aurora Borealis was seen dancing green brilliance.

Social media is flooded with photos of videos of the aurora borealis.

Last night was nothing short of spectacular! The aurora borealis put on an unforgettable show. Below are three shots from Hallow Rock on the north shore of Minnesota. I have never seen this red of an aurora before, so many colors accompanying the normal green. #mnwx #aurora pic.twitter.com/oUXdXg9eVG

— Jake Heitman (@HeitmanJake) March 24, 2023

As per NASA, if you're ever near the North or South Pole there are beautiful light shows in the sky frequently. These lights are called auroras. If you're near the North Pole, it is called an aurora borealis or northern lights. If you're near the South Pole, it is called an aurora australis, or the southern lights.

🎥 A spectacular display of colourful lights illuminates the skies in Northern Finland caused by a powerful geomagnetic storm. pic.twitter.com/0w8TnFNGJl

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 25, 2023

Bill Murtagh, programme co-ordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather and Prediction Center, told the BBC that the Northern Lights phenomenon experienced last night was due to "several eruptions on the sun", which released high energy particles that collided with Earth's atmosphere "like a big magnet getting shot out of the sun".

"When these clouds of particles and magnetic fields from the sun hit the Earth's magnetic fields, we see these high energy particles will interact with the Earth's upper atmosphere and that will create the Northern Lights," he added.

Though the Sun doesn't send the same amount of energy all the time, there is a constant stream of solar wind and there are solar storms. During a coronal mass ejection, a kind of solar storm, the sun burps out a huge bubble of electrified gas that travel through space at high speeds.

According to experts the location of the oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere determines the colours visible in the sky. Nitrogen and oxygen are the main sources of green, red, and blue, respectively.