Following one of the most powerful geomagnetic storms in the last twenty years, red and green northern lights have been spotted in the United States and around the world from regions where they rarely occur.

Here are some of the best photos of this rare and spectacular Northern Lights event from around the world:

Every US state except Hawaii caught a glimpse of an aurora borealis on the night of Thursday, October 11th through Friday, October 12th, while all of Europe – as far as Turkey – and China also witnessed the event .

With the storm still ongoing across the U.S., those with clear skies should head outside. Be patient; Partial storms are forecast for the remainder of the night. Monitor NOAA’s Aurora Dashboard, particularly for the 30-minute forecast and the X account.

A G4 (severe) and possibly even stronger geomagnetic storm occurred after a particularly rapid coronal mass ejection – a cloud of charged particles from the Sun – erupted from the Sun on October 8, as part of the world’s most powerful solar flare in the current solar cycle.

According to NOAA, this CME was moving at a speed of 2.5 million miles per hour. “It’s the fastest CME we’ve measured so far this solar cycle,” Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, said in a news conference Wednesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a forecast for a G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm for both Thursday and Friday, although the latest forecast says the aurora at low latitudes will only occur in the early morning hours of Friday, April 11th. October, will be visible.

That proved correct, as the auroras – including giant red columns – waxed and waned throughout the night, varying in intensity and occasionally reaching severe storm conditions.

The CME hit Earth at 11:17 a.m. EDT (1517 GMT), disrupting Earth’s magnetic field and quickly reaching level G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm conditions at 12:57 p.m. EDT (1657 GMT), according to NOAA.

NOAA warned Oct. 10 that impending severe geomagnetic storm conditions could disrupt satellite communications, power grids and GPS services and potentially impact ongoing recovery efforts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Although G4 storms are generally seen as far south as Alabama and northern California, most U.S. states saw at least a faint photographic aurora.

The readings led to an increase in the Kp index, which measures the extent of geomagnetic activity around the Earth. At night it reached Kp 9 – the highest value recorded – which NOAA defines as the aurora moving toward the equator to become very bright and active.

“These are the events that produce the best auroras, and the extensive auroral oval will be visible to most people,” NOAA’s website says. “At this altitude you can see the Northern Lights directly over the northern states of the United States.”

Geomagnetic activity is at its strongest in 20 years because the Sun is near a particularly intense “solar maximum” – the peak of its 11-year solar cycle – and also near the equinox, when Earth’s axis is tilted sideways to the Sun.

The latest forecast from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center expects the Sun to reach its solar maximum between August 2024 and January 2025. However, on Tuesday, October 8, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and NASA announced that a media conference will be held on Tuesday, October 15 to discuss solar activity and the progression of solar cycle 25.

More frequent and powerful geomagnetic storms are expected to occur by 2026, resulting in intense and widely visible northern lights.

I wish you clear skies and big eyes.