OHIO, USA — Many Ohioans caught glimpses of the northern lights Friday night due to a strong solar storm.
The sky lit up with shades of green, blue and purple just after 10 p.m. Many took out their phones to better capture the vibrant colors.
Check out some of the photos submitted to 10TV:
Northern lights across central Ohio
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration upgraded the geomagnetic solar storm watch from Level 3 ("moderate") to the "severe" Level 4 on Thursday. The last time a severe warning was issued was in 2005.
Friday’s geomagnetic storm was labeled as a minor storm Friday, but by early Saturday, it progressed to a severe storm.
A geomagnetic solar storm watch is a warning from the NOAA about potential activity on the sun's surface (called a coronal mass ejection) that could send waves of high-energy particles shooting toward the earth. When these particles hit the planet, they have the ability to mess with satellite communication systems, cause GPS problems and prevent high-frequency radios from working.
NOAA said the sun produced strong solar flares beginning Wednesday, resulting in five outbursts of plasma capable of disrupting satellites in orbit and power grids here on Earth. Each eruption — known as a coronal mass ejection — can contain billions of tons of solar plasma.
NOAA is calling this an unusual event, pointing out that the flares seem to be associated with a sunspot that’s 16 times the diameter of Earth. An extreme geomagnetic storm in 2003 took out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.
The northern lights appear as a faint greenish glow which may appear to dance as it gets more active. Occasionally, other colors such as pink or red, will also be visible.
If you missed the lights Friday night, there is still time to catch them another time this weekend.
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