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You don’t have to be in the north to see the spectacular Northern Lights

Aurora borealis were viewed in parts of the world that don't normally see them by a massive geomagnetic storm and could linger through Saturday

Raghuvamsh Chavali of Guelph captured the Northern Lights this week in his southern Ontario community.
Raghuvamsh Chavali of Guelph captured the Northern Lights this week in his southern Ontario community. Photo by Raghuvamsh Chavali

Earlier this week, Raghuvamsh Chavali got an alert of elevated aurora borealis activity from an aurora forecast website that he follows. 

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Looking up in the sky in the early hours of March 24th, he noticed faint stripes in the distance. He drove to the outskirts of his town, away from the city lights, and witnessed an awe-inspiring display of the Northern Lights.

Chavali is a resident of Guelph, in the southwestern part of Ontario. He was far from the northern regions usually associated with aurora borealis. 

“The vivid green and purple hues were mesmerizing and difficult to look away from,” Chavili said. He captured the spectacular natural light show with his camera and shared his images on Instagram.

“Living in southern Ontario, it’s not often that we get to witness such a natural light show,” Chavail said.

The rare and breathtaking event viewed in parts of the world that don’t normally see Northern Lights were made possible by a massive geomagnetic storm. Red, purple and green streamers of the aurora borealis dazzled viewers as far south as California, Arizona and Texas.  Typically, the spectacular display is only visible in northern locales like Alaska, North Dakota, northern Canada and Iceland.

The light show could linger through Saturday in many places if the weather is clear.

The display was touched off by a severe geomagnetic storm that peaked about 12:04 a.m. Friday, according to the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center.

A coronal mass ejection, an explosion of magnetic fields and plasma from the sun’s atmosphere, hit Earth with more force than initially forecast. These events can disrupt Earth’s magnetic field causing auroral displays, as well as disrupting satellites, communication and electric grids.

Energy coming from what scientists call a “coronal hole” will continue at least through Saturday and that could mean the aurora could be seen by viewers across Europe, Asia and North America through Sunday, the UK Met Office said on its website.

  1. Aurora borealis over downtown Calgary on Feb. 26, 2023.

    'Absolutely unreal' photos show Northern Lights on display on the ground, in planes, even space

  2. The skies near Crossfield, Alta. north of Calgary lit up by the northern lights in April 2015.

    Solar storm set to light up Canada's skies this week — if the clouds stay away

With additional reporting by Bloomberg