A geomagnetic storm sparked a spectacular display of the Northern Lights Saturday night into early Sunday morning across parts of the country.
The Northern Lights, also known as the aurora borealis, filled the sky with curtains, arcs and rays during several rounds of brilliant displays lasting until the rising sun faded away the show.
This follows what was a strong solar flare eruption from a large sunspot facing the earth on Thursday, which caused a coronal mass ejection (CME) to impact the earth on Saturday, resulting in the geomagnetic storm.
At first the CME's impact seemed relatively weak, but conditions in its wake became stormy with satellites in geosynchronous orbit possibly being directly exposed to solar wind plasma, according to Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab.
The Space Weather Prediction reported moderate geomagnetic storm activity was occurring as a result of the ongoing CME effects.
The Northern Lights appeared in the United States as far south as California, Colorado, Missouri, Utah, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Michigan and Arkansas, according to spaceweather.
NOAA space weather forecasters say there is a chance that the Northern Lights could make another appearance in the sky Sunday night.
The Geophysical Institute issued a Auroral Alert, predicting a high chance of Northern Light activity through early Monday across the northern U.S. including in Seattle, Chicago, Cleveland and Boston.
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