The not-so Northern Lights: Solar flare slams into Earth to display majestic aurora as far south as Kansas, Maine and Donegal
- A solar explosion crashed into Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday allowing photographers to capture these images
- Solar flares create auroras when radiation from the sun reaches Earth and mixes with protons in our atmosphere
- Current storm has ended, but forecasters claim there is a 50 per cent chance of more geomagnetic activity tonight
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A powerful solar flare directed at Earth has put on majestic display of the northern lights across parts of Canada, the U.S and Ireland.
The explosion crashed into Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday allowing people to see the light show as far south as Kansas, Maine and Kentucky.
One lucky photographer managed to catch the aurora as it began. In one photograph, a young Amish man's cart and horse is silhouetted against the luminescent green lights.
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A young Amish boy on his way to work at 4:30am looking at the light show on Fuller Road in Easton, Maine. The image was captured by 61-year-old photographer Paul Cyr
In other images pink and green clouds shimmer against a star-speckled skit above a darkened farm.
The stunning photographs of the aurora borealis were captured by Paul Cyr hours before the natural light show was predicted to be visible.
Mr Cyr, 61, had been following a website that tracks the solar flares that create these light shows and alerts people when the aurora may be seen in the sky.
The recent storm has subsided now, but it could flare up again. Some forecasters a 50 per cent chance of more polar geomagnetic storms tonight
The light show above an Amish Farm. The display was created by a powerful solar explosion crashed into Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday allowing people to see the light show as far south as Kansas and Kentucky
Mr Cyr had been following a website that tracks the solar flares that create these light shows and alerts people when the aurora may be seen in the sky
But the photographer from Presque Isle, Maine, caught sight of the aurora that was scheduled for night time very early in the morning.
‘At around midnight I looked out of my window and saw the light show - it came sooner than I thought,' he said.
‘Auroras are unpredictable, but they are expected to show two and a half days after a solar flare.’
As he took photos in Easton, Maine, Mr Cyr spotted a young Amish man admiring the spectacle.
The Aurora Borealis was also seen in the skies near Buncrana in Inishowen, County Donegal this week with this image captured by Adam Rory Porter
Solar flares create auroras when radiation from the sun reaches Earth and interacts with charged protons in our atmosphere. The effects are greater at the magnetic poles and weaken as they move south from the Arctic or north of the Antarctic
Mr Cyr said: ‘The Amish people get up very early to start work and young man had never seen the Northern Lights before.
‘He was blown away by its natural beauty. We stood and shared the moment for a while.’
The Aurora Borealis was also seen in the skies near Buncrana in Inishowen, County Donegal this week with images here captured by Adam Rory Porter.
Solar flares create auroras when radiation from the sun reaches Earth and interacts with charged protons in our atmosphere.
The effects are greater at the magnetic poles and weaken as they move south from the Arctic or north of the Antarctic.
'At around midnight I looked out of my window and saw the light show - it came sooner than I thought,' said photographer Paul Cyr
The intensity and frequency of Northern Lights activity is governed by solar cycles that lasts for 11 years.
Nasa scientists recently predicted that the current period of solar activity will reach a new peak in December.
On an official NASA video, Todd Hoeksema, the Director of the Wilcox Solar Observatory at Stanford University, said that by December there should be what is termed a ‘solar flip’.
This is when the conditions for viewing the lights would be at their best.
The recent storm has subsided now, but it could flare up again. Some forecasters a 50 per cent chance of more polar geomagnetic storms tonight.
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Comments (17)
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Beautiful photographs. Would just mention to clarify ......Maine is about as far North as you can get in the US - on the border with Canada. Lived in Iceland for 2 years and saw the lights there. They're just so wonderful, you feel you want reach out and touch them.
I live really close to Paul (up here in The County as it's called)....even share his surname.....he's a really nice guy and great photographer. See him flying around on his ultralight quite often, taking pics. The Amish guy might very well be the guy who stopped by my uncle's house on Sunday, while me and my family was visiting (same neighborhood). Uncle Glenn is next-door-neighbor to that family (in fact, sold them their land). I took my five year old son out driving around last night around 9:00 to see if the Northern Lights might make another appearance; no luck. But we'll try again tonight.
Beautiful pictures. The only time I have ever seen the Northern Lights was when I was in high school in Ponca City, Oklahoma, which is about 23 miles south of Kansas.
AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE ZEALOTS TELL US THE SUN HAS NO INFLUENCE ON THE CHANGING CLIMATE ON EARTH YET IT IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO GIVE US THESE AMAZING IMAGES WITH JUST ONE SUPER SOLAR FLARE. TELL ME WHO SHOULD BE BELIEVED, THE BELIEVERS OR THE NON BELIEVERS I THINK THE LATTER
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Billyboy, Sydney, 22 minutes ago
In the late thirties these usually Northern lights were also seen in unusually Southern latitudes; as we are seeing here. It was a warning from Heaven of things to come, (WWII). Let's hope this is not a repeat of history.