An aurora, commonly known as the northern lights, appeared over Johnson County and many parts of the U.S. Thursday night.
The lights don’t normally appear this far south, however, the light show was made possible by a solar storm.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a severe geomagnetic storm alert on Wednesday after an outburst from the sun was detected earlier in the week. Such a storm increases the chance of auroras — also known as northern lights — and can temporarily disrupt power and radio signals.
Normally, the sun sends more than heat and light to Earth — it sends energy and charged particles known as the solar wind. But sometimes that solar wind becomes a storm. The sun’s outer atmosphere occasionally “burps” out huge bursts of energy called coronal mass ejections. They produce solar storms, also known as geomagnetic storms, according to NOAA.
The Earth’s magnetic field shields us from much of it, but particles can travel down the magnetic field lines along the north and south poles and into Earth’s atmosphere.
The Daily Journal asked Facebook followers to send photos of their view of the northern lights Thursday night. Here are some of the best from each town.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
