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    The Sideshow

    Video: Solar storms set Northern Lights aglow

    The Northern Lights as seen from Norway

    The large solar storm that hit the Earth yesterday was expected to interfere with cell phone calls and GPS transmissions. But the storm was also a boon for photographers--who captured the Northern Lights in full effect.

    The aurora borealis is a natural light display typically only visible from parts of Norway but this week's massive solar storm moved the lights south, allowing photographers across northeast England and Ireland to capture powerful images. Ken Kennedy, director of the Aurora section of the British Astronomical Association, told the Daily Mail that the lights may be visible for a few more days:

    The Northern Lights are formed when particles from the sun collide with atoms above the Earth's atmosphere. The particles are propelled toward earth at speeds of around 1 million mph by "coronal mass ejections" from the sun's surface. The particles are then drawn to the magnetic field of Earth's northern and southern poles. They appear as a blue, green, purple or red haze in the sky depending on whether they combine with oxygen or nitrogen atoms, and at which altitude these collisions occur.

    The Northern Lights were given their name by Pierre Gassendi in 1621, combining the name of the Roman goddess Aurora and the Greek word for the north wind, Boreas.

    You can view more pictures from yesterday's storms here.

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    • summer  •  Columbus, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      Top pic looks like an eagle.
      • Tommy 4 mths ago
        summer,sure does i dont think it happen by accident either.we might have a surprise coming up,
      • Joel 4 mths ago
        It looks like a bald eagle. America must be dying.
      • ROSALIEm 4 mths ago
        sweeeeeeet does look like an eagle good eye
    • C.C.  •  San Jose, California  •  4 mths ago
      Awesome shots, i hope to see this in person someday
      • Jorgi 4 mths ago
        well when the magnetic pole shifts over Cali this year, you will have a front seat. :)

        Its a bad joke I know LOL. They are wondeful I hope to see them one day too.
    • All is not lost  •  Rockford, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      Does anyone know of a website or app that you can use to find out where the aurora borealis WILL be so you can go spot them? I live in Illinois. Thanks!
      • jonesy 4 mths ago
        they occur randomly throughout the night. they are best seen away from street lights...on moonless nights. the far north you are the more likely you are to see them. in illinois, they will appear just over the horizon.
      • Bareasskmeagain 4 mths ago
        Illinois is a little too far south and your chance of seeing it, if ever is very slim. Take a flight north to into Canada, above 50* northern latitude will give you a better option. There is really no way to predict when or what time it will be visable except during this period of solar activity it could be seen on any night at any time.
      • B 4 mths ago
        try nasa.gov?
    • O.G. - Oscar the Grouch  •  4 mths ago
      i was thinking of another type of northern lights
    • joechgo  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      I was stationed in Fairbanks when I was in the Army and the only good thing about it was being able to see the Aurora Borealis! Magnificent! Hope everyone can see it sometime.
      • Christina 4 mths ago
        i was born and raised in alaka my whole life.. my husband was also stationed at ft wainwright tell dec 2007... i remember them back in 2002 when they were blood red (my first time that color). and when you saw them you thought the sky was bleeding... most of the time i seen them green and light.. being in TN and now VA i never see them less i see the ics on my friends and family website...
    • Ryuuji desu  •  4 mths ago
      Truly beautiful.
    • genoj  •  Grand Rapids, Michigan  •  4 mths ago
      Why can't the sky do that All the Time!?! Everywhere!
    • Roger  •  San Diego, California  •  4 mths ago
      Now that was a story worth looking into...No jackass celebrity doing something stupid...Something that's actually cool...
    • kat  •  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  •  4 mths ago
      I'm originally from MI. We could sit out at night, during the summer, and see the northern lights all the time. It is a beautiful sight, especially when you get the red and pink hue mix. If you live in the northern states, there is a good chance that you can see them, maybe not to the fullest, but they are there if you look.
    • Narangah  •  4 mths ago
      So beautiful, ethereal. Wish I'll be lucky enough to see this in person one day...
    • williamH  •  Saginaw, Michigan  •  4 mths ago
      Used to see this phenomenon while stationed in Alaska - It is a beautiful sight. Once back in the late 70's actually saw it in Northern Michigan.
    • theresa  •  Manahawkin, New Jersey  •  4 mths ago
      wow that is so cool, i wish to see the aurora borealis some day and that top pick looks like both an eagle and an Angel
    • DianaT  •  Boston, Massachusetts  •  4 mths ago
      looks like an eagle to me
    • Jeffrey  •  4 mths ago
      Yahoo posting pictures! *CLAP CLAP CLAP*
    • Thomas  •  Middletown, New York  •  4 mths ago
      Only From Norway?? Ridiculous! Tell that to the people who live in Alaska and Canada...
    • Pam  •  4 mths ago
      Some of the crazy questions we get from tourists are When do you turn on the lights?
    • Pam  •  4 mths ago
      The Alaska Natives here say the Northern Lights are the spirit of our ancestors. It's fun to lay out on the ice with my huskies and watch them as they dance. If you let your imagination go you can see the ghostly images moving in heavens curtain. The dog teams around my neighborhood will howl making it even more magical. I call it the Arctic Lullaby.
    • Ares10  •  St Louis, Missouri  •  4 mths ago
      That is a wild and beautiful picture, but the author is a huge #$%$ for stating this is only visible from parts of "Norway” What was he smoking and how stupid is he??!! The Northern Lights are readily visible from almost any far northern latitude, infamous in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and not unusual in Northern Japan. I seriously wish we would have people with a better education writing these articles, particularly the science articles.
    • Sam  •  4 mths ago
      How many people wish they could see this, but can't because of where they live?
    • Inter mutanda, constancia ...  •  Islip, New York  •  4 mths ago
      And I always thought a "coronal mass ejection" was projectile vomiting after too many Mexican beers..... Well, live and learn.
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