Sky watchers treated to northern lights, supermoon and eclipse this week

Auroras around the world were super-charged Wednesday night and are expected to provide an amazing light show for the next few weeks, thanks to a severe solar storm impacting Earth.

While there have been no reports of power outages or other issues related to the solar tempest, people have witnessed amazing auroras caused by the storm. The geomagnetic storm was caused by two eruptions from the sun that joined together while flying toward Earth.

Photographers captured stunning images of the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, in the northern parts of the United States, Canada, northern Europe and other parts of the world.

Auroras occur when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's upper atmosphere, releasing a glow that typically looks green, but can include reds and purples as well.

They are typically visible over Earth's North and South poles, but can reach further down during strong geomagnetic storms like the G4-class storm observed this week. Brilliant green auroras were visible to residents in Pine Bush, NY, just 50 miles north of New York City.

Sky watchers will have a rare trilogy of events to mark the advent of Spring on Friday. Along with the northern lights and a supermoon, where the moon appears unusually large due to its proximity to the earth, some lucky people will witness a total solar eclipse.
(Space.com and David Handschuh/Yahoo News)

Find more news-related pictures in our photo galleries and follow us on Tumblr.