A few nights in May 2024 offered a fair possibility of seeing something amazing if you happened to glance up at the sky. There was a unique opportunity for anyone at relatively low latitudes to witness the flashing red, pink, and green brilliance of our planet’s aurorae.
Bursts of charged particles, unleashed by a strong solar storm, hurtled towards Earth and caused stunning displays of the Northern and Southern Lights as they bounced around in our planet’s atmosphere.
Because of the strength of the largest geomagnetic storm in two decades, the brilliant displays of aurora borealis were visible much further north in the case of aurora australis, and far further south than they may ordinarily be.
Some saw simply a spooky, dim glow, but others as far south as Ohio in the US and London in the UK were treated to a riot of color. Even reports from as far north as San Francisco, California, were received.
However, this surge in solar activity has had a significant impact elsewhere in the Solar System in addition to mesmerizing many people on Earth with the light show it created. While the majority of us observed the colors shifting during it.
